Swan Song
by A very obsessed fangirl
Summary: Sophie Foster is getting desperate. Keefe is in a coma. Forgotten secrets are being revealed. Love triangles need sorting out. And she never knows when the Neverseen are going to strike. Can Sophie handle everything, or will this be her swan song? (My version of book nine. Please read!)
1. Preface

**Hi! It's me. Legacy has killed me. And of course, we all know the best way to survive is... BY WRITING A BOOK NINE PREDICTION!**

***Holds up sign that says "Applause"***

***No one applauds***

**Come on guys, seriously?**

***Booing***

***Someone throws rotten fruit at me***

***Sighs* Okay. Fine.**

**But anyway... I'm writing a book nine prediction! Yayyy! We don't know the title yet, but I think it's going to be Swan Song. If I turn out to be wrong I'll change it when the real title is released. Anywayyyy... I've started figuring things out, some major plot stuff, but nothing's ****_really _****set in stone yet. If you have any ideas, feel free to PM me! I'll give you credit! :)**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Feedback will be welcomed and there's a good chance I'm going to completely change my plot halfway through and rewrite it. Soooo...**

**Here goes!**

* * *

Sophie stared at the cache between her fingertips. It looked almost like the marbles she'd play with as a kid. A harmless object used for a child's amusement.

It looked so tiny.

So insignificant.

Such a small thing to hold secret that could destroy their world.

They were about to learn a forgotten secret.

_They were about to learn a forgotten secret._

Suddenly, all of Dex's and her parents' and the council's and Oralie's warnings about how this could go wrong hit her. And she started worrying.

Worried that the secret would destroy Oralie's fragile sanity.

Worried that the knowledge could completely change the Elvin world- and not in a good way.

Worried that whatever they found wouldn't be enough.

Worried that it would confirm her fears about what stellarlune could have done to Keefe.

Sophie shook her head. The risk would be worth it.

_The risk would be worth it._

Anything would be worth it if it could save Keefe.

She couldn't back out now, not when she was so close.

Sophie gave the cache one last look before handing it to Oralie.

Oralie held it close to her lips and whispered the words that would change everything.

**Like my preface? What am I saying, of course you do. Next chapter is already written, so you guys have that to look forward to! **

**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 1

**Updating? So soon? Practically unheard of! O.o**

**Who is this author and what have they done with A very obsessed fangirl?**

**Well, actually it IS the real me! *Cue shocked gasps* I know, I know. But I'm supposed to be doing math homework right now... and procrastinating that overtook my usual updating procrastination. Plus this chapter was written even before the preface.**

**Huge thank you to all... 35ish views (I know what a big number) and THREE (ish) WHOLE REVIEWS! ! ! **

**Eva L: You're very welcome! It's a lot of fun to be writing this, though it is difficult with so little information and so many mysteries to be wrapped up. The preface was actually less than 300 words XD, a lot of last chapter was my A/N. I found it easy to write Sophie worrying about stuff since I myself am a huge worrier. Thank you so much! I will!**

**The-Vegginonymous-Potato: YAYYYYYYY! YOU APPLAUDED! *Turns to crowd of people who threw fruit at me* See I have fans. *Another piece of rotten fruit is thrown* Shoot. Anyway, thanks! **

**Cary Swirls: Of course I'm right! I'm always right! (Rotten fruit throwers: *Snort* HAHAHAHAHAHAH Yeah right.) INDEED! I WILL NOT FIGHT YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE ONE OF MY FEW FANS! WHOOOOO! Thanks! I shall!**

**Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the chapter! I tried to replicate Shannon's style but I'm not really sure how well I did... anyway.**

"Just to be clear," Dex said. "You want me to try to open the cache?" The little glass sphere rolled around Dex's palm. It was such a tiny and harmless-looking thing for something that could destroy the elvin world. Caches contained little colored gems, Forgotten Secrets. If the Council did something horrible enough that the guilt could shatter their fragile sanities, they would store the memories in the cache and have it erased from their mind. Each of the twelve councillors owned one, and Councillor Maybe She's Not So Bad After All, But She's Still Not My Mom, AKA Councillor Oralie, had given Sophie her cache.

Sophie nodded. "Yes. Just like the last six times I said so."

"You know there's probably a reason these secrets are _forgotten_, right?" Dex continued.

"Yeah. But we kinda need to figure it out." Sophie said. One of her best friends, Keefe, was in a coma because his evil mom, Gisela, did something to him. They had heard Gisela mention the word "Stellarlune," which Councillor Needs A Better Nickname said sounded familiar, but couldn't quite remember it. This led them to the conclusion that it was a forgotten secret. Which led Sophie to this argument with Dex.

"And this one has to be pretty big, considering it's Oralie's only secret."

"That is also accurate. But-"

"Oh, and also-" Dex interrupted.

"Okay. Dex. I _get _it." Sophie cut in. "I definitely know the risks. I am like the _queen _of obsessing over the risks. And I decided that opening the cache would be worth it."

"You're _sure?" _Dex said.

"Yes!" Sophie shouted in exasperation.

Dex sighed. "Okay. Okay, I'll do it."

Sophie hugged Dex. "Thanks, you're the best!" Sophie was glad hugging her best friend was _jus_t hugging her best friend now, nothing weird. A while ago, The World's Most Awkward Friendship led to The World's Most Awkward Crush Confession which led to The World's Most Awkward Kiss... but finally, the awkwardness was gone. Thankfully. "Let me know when you've figured it out!" Sophie held up her leaping crystal.

"Where're you going?" Dex asked.

"Take a guess."

"Hmm... the Healing Center, maybe?" Dex said, pretending to think hard about it.

"Yes, you are correct! I am going to visit Keefe in the Healing Center! Congratulations!" Sophie applauded. It wasn't _exactly_ a hard guess. Over the course of the past few weeks, Sophie had spent a significant amount of time there. She basically only left to shower occasionally, or when her adoptive parents Grady and Edaline made her come home. This was one of the few times _she _had been the one desperately waiting for a friend to wake up... usually she was the unconscious one.

"Do you have any guesses on what his new ability is going to be?" Dex asked. Although Keefe was past manifesting age, Elwin had said that his symptoms were similar to when someone was manifesting a new ability. And they knew Gisela wanted to "Embrace the change" and "Reach his full potential," which further supported the conclusion that Keefe was going to have a new ability. She just hoped that his powers were the only thing about him that changed...

"Well, it's probably something really powerful, like a Mesmer..." Sophie started.

Dex laughed. "Can you _imagine _Grady's reaction if he had to train Keefe?"

"Yeah, he would _not _be happy about that." Grady really did not like Keefe, even refusing to call him by his real name. Instead, he called Keefe "That Boy." One of the many reasons he disliked Keefe was because Keefe fake-joined the Neverseen as a double agent. He meant well, but it was really _not _one of his better life choices, to put it nicely. Grady also had brought up the possibility that he didn't like Keefe because he thought Keefe liked Sophie... which was ridiculous. Obviously. "He also might manifest as a shade, since the creepy 'change' thing had something to do with shadowflux. Other than that, I don't really know."

A look of horror came over Dex's face. "Oh no... what if he manifests as a Voiciferator?"

"Oooh, yeah, that would not be fun. The world would probably end horrifically." Sophie agreed. "Bye!" She held her crystal up to the light again and leaped.

Seconds later, she reappeared at Foxfire and began walking towards the Healing Center. It felt odd to be the one visiting a friend, considering _she_ was usually the one unconscious and almost dead. But Keefe was in there almost as much as she was by now. Instead of naming it the Foster Center, like Keefe had suggested, they should call it the Foster-Keefe Center to match the pictures they both had up. Sophie still cringed at the memory of how embarrassing the picture was... okay, she didn't _ask _to do a ridiculous dance in a ridiculous elephant costume! Why on earth would anyone ever _want _to do that? At Foxfire, it was a tradition to start the new school year with a ceremony that required students to dance dressed as their new grade level's mascot. _Super _mortifying. The only redeeming feature was that after all the horrific dancing, candy would shower down for the students to collect. That part was fun.

Lost in thought, Sophie slammed into a wall.

Of course, her lack of paying attention was _obviously _the only reason. Her slamming into a wall had _nothing_ to do with her terrible clumsiness and complete lack of coordination. Okay, seriously! Why couldn't the Black Swan, the rebel group of elves who genetically modified her to become a super-elf, give her some coordination along with her bajillion powers? Would that really be so hard?

Sighing, Sophie continued her walk to the Healing Center. Soon after, she crashed into something else (shocking)- but this time it wasn't a wall. It was a person.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Sophie apologized without looking up to see who it was.

"It's fine," said an amused voice, with a crisp accent that Sophie would recognize anywhere. She looked up and was met with the teal eyes that had mesmerized her for years.

"Hi, Fitz." Sophie said awkwardly. Now that the awkwardness with Dex had gone, the awkwardness with her Ex Boyfriend Who She Agreed To Be "Just Friends" With But Might Still Like, She's Not Sure had replaced it. That's a really terrible nickname. Should she shorten it to EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNS... no. Definitely not. That's almost worse. Anyway.

"Uh, hey," he responded, clearly as uncomfortable as she was. "How's it going?"

"Um... well, I gave Oralie's cache to Dex, and he's going to work on finding out what stellarlune is. So maybe that will help Keefe wake up?" Sophie reached up and tugged on an eyelash, hard.

"Dex is a genius," Fitz reassured her, gently taking her hand and moving it away from her eyelashes. "And Keefe will be fine. He'll wake up." He sounded like he actually believed it as he looked into her eyes and said "Okay?"

"Okay." Sophie said reluctantly. She didn't mean it- she was still just as worried as before. But Fitz wasn't Keefe. So Fitz couldn't tell she was lying.

"Okay." He released her hand and raised up his crystal to the light. "See you later."

"Bye." Sophie said as Fitz glittered away. Once he was gone, she walked through the spot where he used to be and into the Healing Center.

Her heart seemed to leap out of her chest as she heard Keefe's voice say "Sophie?"

**Heheheheheheh sorry? **

**Anyway, ignore my obvious evil-ness and your undying hatred for me, and review! :)**


	3. Chapter 2

**Oh hello peeps. I have returned again. Did you miss me? Of course you did.**

**Crowd: No we really didn't. Please, disappear again.**

**Me: Shut up crowd. See I have a small group of fans who support me!**

**Fans: (Halfheartedly) Whoo hoo. Go A. Fan. Yay.**

**Me: *Sighs* Just read the chapter.**

**Guest: I shall try! Thanks! (This isn't a sokeefe fanfic... but honestly it kinda is...) If you review again, please give yourself a name!**

**Eva L: Ikr? It's kind of funny but also kind of sad. Sorry about the slow update... and sorry about the chapter. I can tell you in advance that you're going to hate me. Yeah, great idea! By the way don't ship EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNSphie. Bad ship.**

**Wonderland A.K.A. Cay-Cay: Thank you! Okay, that's fine, provided you, you know, actually do it. :)**

**You guys are all going to hate me so much, I'm sorry. :)**

Keefe rolled over and mumbled "Sophie. It's okay." He paused for a while. "I got this."

For a split second, Sophie was hopelessly confused- before she realized.

He was dreaming.

**(HEHEHEHEHE YOU ALL HATE ME NOW MUAHAHAHAHAHA)**

_Don't cry don't cry don't cry don'tycrydon'tcry _Sophie told herself, but it really didn't work. Furiously, she swiped at her eyes and stretched her mind out to Keefe's.

_His head was filled an enormous cavern, four glowing obelisks illuminating the place. Weapons lined the walls, which Keefe found mildly disturbing- but not entirely surprising._

_"Even if I _am _crawling, I won't be losing." Keefe said, staring defiantly at the ogre king. Despite his confident declaration, a feeling of panic (that for some reason reminded him of vibes he generally got from Sophie) was rising up in him. _Why the mallowmelt would I decide to do something so stupid? _He asked himself. After throwing a quick glance at Sophie, he remembered. Waves of panic flowed off of her, which made his own nervousness even worse. While he was focusing on breathing normally and convincing himself he'd be fine, he zoned out for a second. Keefe realized this after he noticed Foster staring at him expectantly._

_"I'll be fine," Keefe told her, sounding _almost _like he maybe even believed it. "I'm basically undefeated at tackle bramble." He added, trying to lighten the mood _maybe just a little bit. _Which was basically what he did all the time._

_"This isn't a game, Keefe!" Sophie snapped. She took a deep breath. "And you can't cheat."_

_Keefe winked at her. "I _never _cheat." Apparently, again Sophie didn't appreciate his efforts to make jokes. Privately, he sighed. The thought of Sophie mad at him scared him more than the prospect of fighting King Dimitar. He knew it was his own fault, and he knew he had to do this, but... _I wish I didn't keep ruining everything with her... _Keefe thought._

The image in Keefe's head slowly faded into nothingness. A second later, a new image replaced it.

_Keefe was lying in salt, staring up at the ogre king who had him pinned. "Which is why the sparring begins _now." _Dimitar said in that awful scratchy voice- Keefe's throat hurt just thinking about it._

_Before he had time to register the words, Keefe felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, accompanied by a disgusting_ squish _sound. _That's not good, is it? _Keefe thought, yelling out in pain._

_"That's one!" King Dimitar declared gleefully. "I can't decide which I'm enjoying more, beating the boy- or having the girl watch me do it." _

_The thought of Sophie fueled Keefe with adrenaline. His shoulder was throbbing- and he was sure it would hurt even more if Dimitar managed to get him again- but Sophie was freaking out and he would do anything to make her feel better. So somehow, he got the strength to stand up. "I'm fine." He lied, hating how weak his voice sounded. _

_The rest of the sparring match was a blur in Keefe's mind- a blur of pain and blood and snarls and shouted insults... and the words he chanted over and over again in his head to keep him going: _Sophie. Sophie. Sophie.

_The memory became clear again as Sophie shoved a panakes blossom in his mouth. For the first time, his shocked mind managed to register _It's over. I won. _For all his bravado, Keefe _really _was _not _expecting that to happen._

_"It looks worse than it is," Keefe promised her, though that was a blatant lie. If anything, it was worse than it looked. But Sophie had already done enough worrying for today- he had already caused her enough pain, and he was determined not to add to it. So he smiled and made jokes and refused to show her the cut on his side- until he noticed she was crying. _

_"Seriously," he said in a softer voice. "No need to get blood on your gloves- or on Dex's _very _special cuffs," he added, unable to resist making the joke. Because that was how he dealt with things. Sometimes it sucked, like when a very angry Sophie was glaring at him- but making jokes was how he dealt. _

_Sophie sighed. "Show me."_

_"If you wanted to check out my abs-"_

"Show me."

_Keefe sighed and moved his arm. Vaguely, he heard King Dimitar's voice saying something obnoxious- and then a whole wave of Sophie's ugly emotions crashed over him. Fury. Fear. Darkness. Hate._

_"Sophie?"_

_No response._

_Not entirely knowing what the heck he was doing, he tugged at her glove until it came off, and held her hand. The rush of Sophie's enhancing raced through him, and instinct guided him to manipulate her emotions._

Calm.

Steady.

Relax.

_Slowly, he started to see Sophie's mind obeying._

A voice snapped Sophie out of her thoughts- or rather, Keefe's thoughts. "Sophie?" Sophie's head whipped around to see Marella and Linh standing by the doorway.

Sophie sighed. "What is it? I was busy checking on Keefe's dreams-"

"Ooooohh..." Marella teased. "Was he dreaming about you? How sweeeeeet!"

Sophie blushed. Keefe _was _dreaming about her- but it didn't mean anything, right? His mind had just happened to go to a time they were together, and it showed him caring for her a lot. _Like a friend should. _

Marella nudged Linh. "_She's blushing."_ She stage whispered. "_I think that means he was."_

Linh gave Marella a disapproving look. "That's _not _what we came here to talk about."

Marella sighed. "True. But her denial is so _cu-"_

"What did you come here to talk about?" Sophie interrupted, praying it would spare her from any further embarrassment.

"Um..." Marella said. "Mr. Forkle asked us to come get you. He needs to tell you something important."

"Good important or bad important?" Sophie asked, dreading the answer she knew would come.

"Bad important," Linh said softly, confirming her fears.

Sophie sighed and took one last look at Keefe- still unconscious. Then she followed Linh and Marella out of the Healing Center.

**Hellllooooooooo I gave you another cliffhanger lol. But... I hope you don't hate me _too _much? Like, I know you were expecting Keefe to wake up, but... at least you got to see his cute memory of Sophie? I gave you guys some Sokeefe fluff... please forgive me? ****(Lol that'll never happen.)**

**Please review, even if you still hate me! Because reviews will make me feel motivated to update, and if I update frequently enough... maybe it won't be long before Keefe wakes up for real this time.**

**Anyway, again, please review!**


	4. Chapter 3

**I have neglected you peeps hehe whoops sorry. BUT I CAN EXPLAIN! THE REASON I DIDN'T UPDATE IS...**

***Flips through notecards***

**I was busy with homework? Nah. We all know I'd do fanfiction instead of homework. **

**I got a life? Pfft no one would believe that.**

**Kidnapped? Please, no one wants to kidnap me. I'd feel bad for my captor.**

**Writer's block? CRAP CRAP CRAP *RIPS NOTECARD TO SHREDS* HIDE THE EVIDENCE! NO ONE CAN KNOW! *Clears throat.* Definitely wasn't writer's block.**

**I died. Yeah, that's a good answer. I died.**

**BUT I LIVE AGAIN! YOU MAY REJOICE!**

***Crickets***

**I said, YOU MAY REJOICE!**

***More crickets***

**Please rejoice?**

***More rotten fruit is thrown at me***

**Darn.**

***Someone in audience yells "YOU DO THIS EVERY CHAPTER! IT'S NOT FUNNY ANYMORE!"***

**Would you rather I made you actually like me? **

***Everyone screams "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" and runs away***

**'Kay then. Enjoy!**

**Ooh wait I have to respond to reviews.**

**Mrs. Moonlark: OooOOOooOO no it's not. BECAUSE I CANNNNNNNNNNN AND IT'S FUNNNNNNNN! But thank you so much! :)**

**xylah: Thank you! Legacy killed us all and SOKEEFE FOREVER!**

**Cary Swirls: Heh heh. HAHAHAHAHAHA NO. Thanks though!**

**Eva L: You do? You shouldn't. But YAS THE CUTE SOKEEFE DREAM. No, definitely isn't. Thank you! I'll try (Lol because that's _totally _gonna happen.)**

**Sara: :) :) :)**

**Guest: Thank you! I will... eventually.**

**Loony Lovegood: Thank you! Nice name btw.**

**Mallowmelt: Thank you! I will... eventually.**

**Pinkout: Hi! Thank you so much! I'm really trying to, so that means a lot! :P**

**FlowerGirl15: Oh hi! I remember you! That sucks, but I'm glad you read it! Lol, being an evil author really is fun! Yes yes... at some point. GRRRRR OBLIVIOUS SOPHIE! STOP BEING SO GOSH DARN OBLIVIOUS! Thank you!**

**A River Of Ink: Thank you! Keefoster forever!**

**oOoOoOoO pRoCrAsTiNaTiOn! fUnNnNnNnNnNnNnN!**

**Ugh, enjoy.**

"So, um, where are we going?" Sophie asked, her casual tone contradicting the dread growing in her gut. "And more importantly, how bad is it?"

Marella shrugged. "First question: Brumevale. You know, that awful hideout with all the stairs?" **(A/N: I have a minor obsession with bringing my characters here any time the Black Swan has to meet. Probably because it's fun to torture them with stairs."**

Sophie groaned. Not only where the stairs- how should she phrase this?- _not fun, _it would take a really long time to get there. She'd definitely rather just find out the "bad important" news and get it over with. Especially since walking up the stairs would give her mind enough time to create millions of worst-case scenarios. All of which she would convince herself was true and then panic. No thanks, she'd rather just find out now.

"And as for your second question," Marella added. "No idea. Forkle just said he had bad news, but he was going to wait for all of us to be there before he told us. I'm sure it's not _so _bad."

"Famous last words." Sophie muttered.

Linh nudged her gently. "I'm sure it'll be okay. You shouldn't be so pessimistic. Just because some things aren't going so well right now, doesn't mean _everything's _going to go wrong. Things'll almost definitely get better soon. So don't give up on hope yet. Okay?" **(Excuse me where can I get a Linh?)**

Sophie gave Linh a genuine smile, glad she was fortunate enough to have one of the kindest elves in the universe for a friend. Evidently, Marella felt the same way. Considering she put an arm around Linh's shoulder and announced "Linh, you are most definitely the nicest person in the entire history of the universe."

Linh turned pink at the compliment. "I don't think that's true, but... thanks."

Sophie sighed and said "We should probably start climbing those stupid stairs... mallowmelt, I hate those stairs."

"Don't we all?" Marella said. The three girls joined hands and leaped to the hot, stuffy entrance. Linh released the whirlwind to access the staircase.

After a moment, in which Sophie stared at the stairs as though they were her mortal enemy and had just insulted her terribly, they began the long walk up the stairs.

"So," Marella said, after one-hundred-seventy-two steps of walking in silence- yes, Sophie counted. Yes, she was aware that counting stairs was weird. No, she did not give a sparkly alicorn poo.

"Yes?"

"Are you going to tell us more about Keefe Hunkyhair Fos- sorry, _Sencen- _dreaming about you?" Marella asked.

"Why do you even want to know about this?" Sophie asked, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

"Because I am the gossip queen and that is my job. Now, spill the tea."

Face heating up, Sophie refused to meet Marella's eyes as she answered the question. "So, um, he was dreaming about me."

"Shocker." Marella muttered.

"Shut up. Anyway, it was just, like, a memory. He was dreaming about some stuff that happened a while ago- around the time you manifested, in case you were wondering. And I happened to be in the memory. That's all."

"That's _all?" _pouted Marella.

"Yes! Sorry to disappoint."

"But I wanted _juiciness!"_

"Marella, stop torturing the poor girl." Linh's soft voice became Sophie's savior.

"Marella, listen to Linh."

Marella sighed dramatically. _"Fine."_

They lapsed into silence again. Counting the steps was Sophie's only distraction from the horrifying theories bouncing around in her brain. When that wasn't enough anymore, Sophie also began counting the number of times she tripped. An unsurprisingly high number resulted from this. Eventually, Sophie's lack of physical stamina provided a distraction and Sophie could stop counting her trips. Thankfully. The number was starting to be a bit embarrassing.

On stair number six-hundred-thirty-six, they made it to the top. Relieved, it took most of Sophie's willpower not to plop down on the spot. "No... more... stairs..." she panted, leaning against the wall of the lighthouse.

"Thank... mallowmelt..." Marella responded.

The door opened. "You kids. Act like you're going to die because you climbed a few steps. Honestly."

"Stairs... are... hard..." Sophie gasped. "If you... wanted me to... be... athletic... you should have... made me... athletic. And... coordinated."

Mr. Forkle sighed. "You kids," he repeated. "Come on in."

As soon as they were inside, Sophie collapsed onto a sofa. "Thank mallowmelt... my legs don't have to support me anymore!"

"Um, since when have your legs _ever _supported you," Dex teased, which alerted Sophie to the fact that her friends were all in the room. (With the exception of Keefe, of course.)

"Ha ha. Very funny." Sophie laughed sarcastically.

"I thought it was funny," Tam said, defended Dex. A tiny _tiny _bit of his saltiness went away as he looked at Sophie and asked "How's Keefe doing?"

Sophie hesitated, not entirely sure how to answer that question. "Um... alive?"

"He was _dreaming _of her!" Marella offered unhelpfully. Sophie wasn't sure, but she though she could see Fitz's jaw clench. Although they _had _broken up, it was possible that he still had feelings for her, Sophie supposed. He _was _her EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNS, after all. Ex Boyfriend Who She Agreed To Be "Just Friends" With But Might Still Like, She's Not Sure, was the ridiculously long version of the nickname. Truly, it was a terrible nickname. Why the mallowmelt was Sophie still using it?

Then Sophie remembered Marella's comment, and why her EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNS was potentially mad and jealous. "It wasn't like _that! _He was dreaming about something that happened a while ago and I _just happened to be in the memory." _At this, Sophie noticed Fitz visibly relaxing.

"You kids and your love triangles," Mr. Forkle muttered.

"Love triangles? What- _love triangles?" _said Sophie, either confused or- _no no no what the heck do you mean there was no _way _she was in denial._

Everyone else in the room rolled their eyes simultaneously, but no one answered.

Mr. Forkle cleared his throat. "Anyway, now that you're all here, I have some bad news for you."

Nervously, Sophie tugged at an eyelash. A tiny part of her was glad that she could stop imagining terrible things, but that bit was overshadowed by the dread. "What is it?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Well, the thing is..." Mr. Forkle hesitated, not wanting to break the news. "Fintan Pyren escaped from prison last night."

**MUAHAHAHAHAHA I'M EVIL!**

**Please review! **


	5. Chapter 4

**Oh wowwowwow what's this A FAST UPDATE! Lolllll once I got over the writer's block it was easy.**

**Guest: Thank you! I'm a complete nerd, so I don't usually hang out with girls like that, but in 90% of realistic fiction YA novels the best friend is a lot like that, so I tried. Marellinh? Maybe... hehehe. **

**Cary Swirls: Lollll... I need to use the amnesia one because I'm procrastinating English homework as of right now. Thank you! I may be evil, but I'm not evil enough to die without finishing this story! I appreciate the rejoicement! I'll TRYYYYYY. Sorry (but not really)- I can see why Shannon likes the evil author thing so much. But... I'm starting the next chapter only a day after publishing the last one! Course it'll take me a full month to update... BUT I STARTED EARLY. **

**1208booklover: I don't even know, honestly. But don't worry. We're all dying here! Thank you so muchhhhh :)**

**MidnightBunnyy: YES YES I AM! EVERYONE KNOWS THAT! Lol thanks!**

**MeeIsFarrow101: I'm listening... metaphorically of course. Hmm. For some reason, I get the minor feeling that I am being threatened, lol. I'll try not to make you wait, but- I kinda am a black belt with a Shady Black Belt Protection Squad (™), so... good luck! Thanks for reviewing! :)**

**Oh no! How can this be? I almost forgot to do my signature Crowd Hating On Me (™) in my intro! How could I?**

**Crowd: Darn. We were sorta hoping you would forget... then we wouldn't have to come here. I am ashamed to exist in such a terrible fanfiction.**

**Me: Did that just break the fourth wall?**

**Crowd: Um, with your terrible writing skills, the fourth wall never existed in the first place. Neither did the other three walls.**

**Me: So... I'm writing outside?**

**Crowd: Yes.**

**Me: But it's like thirty degrees outside! Do I have to type outside? It's cold and I don't _wannaaaaaaa._**

**Crowd: BOOOOO! BOOOOOO! *Rotten fruit***

**Me: Look, could you mix it up once in a while and throw some _vegetables? _Or maybe some _fresh _fruit?**

**Crowd: Why don't you mix it up once in a while and NOT BRING US HERE?**

**Me: *Shrugs* Can't do that. The fans like it.**

**Fans: *Are about as existent as Dex's relevance* Sure. Yay. Woo hoo.**

**Me: SEE? DEDICATED FANS!**

**Crowd: Um-**

**Me: SHH ONTO THE CHAPTER HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY!**

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut and put her face in her hands, as though blocking the world out would make the bad news disappear. And honestly, Linh's optimism "Don't give up hope" speech was a load of alicorn poo. Things just kept getting worse and worse for the Black Swan. The Neverseen were always like fifteen steps ahead. They were all doomed.

While Sophie was thinking some very cheerful thoughts, Mr. Forkle had started interrogating Marella and Linh about what Fintan had said recently during Marella's lessons, to see if that gave them any hints. The answers were "How the mallowmelt should I know? Unless it's an actual valid pyrokinetics instruction, I don't pay attention to anything the guy says. Ninety percent of the time its him telling me I suck at this, or 'If you don't control the flames, the flames will control you.'" -Marella, obviously- and Linh's response of "I don't know... I don't think he said anything useful. Sorry I couldn't be of more help..."

Only vaguely aware of these things, Sophie was mostly focusing on breathing steadily and not going into full panic mode. She was almost entirely oblivious to the world **(And to everything else XD) **when the familiar voice of EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNS- sorry, _Fitz- _filled her head.

_You okay, Sophie?_

The thought _Keefe wouldn't even have to ask, and he'd know exactly how to make me feel better _filled her head before Sophie realized- _HE CAN HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS WHAT THE MALLOWMELT ARE YOU DOING YOU IDIOT!- _wait, Fitz could hear that too. Honestly, these telepathic conversations were really- _HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING? STOP! THINKING! THINGS!_

She could hear Fitz chuckling humorlessly- in real life or in her head, she couldn't tell- but it was obvious he was mad. _Why did this all have to be so complicated? _

_You would rather Keefe be here than me? _Fitz transmitted angrily. What a jealous EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNS.

_No! It's- I don't know where that thought came from. I just miss him, that's all. It's not that- I didn't mean I don't want you here. Really, I'm grateful that you're trying to ensure I'm okay. I just wish he was here- because he's my friend and he's in a coma and I miss him. _Sophie mentally rambled.

_You didn't answer the question. _Even in her head, Sophie could hear the accusatory tone much more clearly than she'd like.

_I'd rather you_ both _be here! Obviously! I don't want either of you to be in a coma!_

Was it possible to transmit a sigh? Sophie was pretty sure Fitz just did. _But if you had to choose only one of us to be here- only one- it would be him. Please don't lie to me, I know you would._

_I- I'm not good at choosing between people, Fitz. I want both of you here. Stop being so jealous and defensive- we're not even dating anymore! _The words stung both of them.

Behind her, Sophie heard someone clearing their throat. Everyone in the room was looking at them. Barely resisting the urge to hide behind her hair and rid herself of all eyelashes, Sophie peeped "What?"

"You two done with your lover's quarrel?" Mr. Forkle asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not a _lover's _quarrel." Fitz snapped. "As Sophie just pointed out, we're not dating anymore."

"Ooh, you tell him, Sophie!" Marella cheered. She leaned over to whisper in Biana's ear. It sounded suspiciously like _"Keephie forever!"_

Sophie ignored her. "Anyway, yes, we're done talking. You were saying?"

"Well, I'm going to have to alert the Council of Fintan's escape. _That's _going to be fun. Then, Mr. Tam, can you ask Miss Glimmer to meet us soon? Say, two hours? Yes, let's all meet back here in two hours."

"_Here?" _Sophie whined. "But- _the stairs. _I don't think I'm physically able to do that again."

Mr. Forkle sighed and muttered "You kids." Louder, he added "Fine. Havenfield, then. Two hours. Please, in those two hours, do try and sort out the love triangle. It's getting really annoying when you bring it up during Black Swan meetings."

"Again, _what love triangle?" _Sophie asked forcefully. No one responded, but Fitz stared at her with those _stupidly _attractive teal eyes. She stared back. Linh's head whipped back and forth between them, like she expected them to start screaming at one another at any second.

"Um... should we head back down the stairs?"

For another few seconds, they continued staring- it felt like an eternity- until Fitz finally sighed and turned his head away.

Down the stairs was easier than up the stairs- which is to say, hard but possible. Once they reached the bottom, Sophie grabbed her home crystal. "See you guys soon!" she called. Before any of them could respond, she leaped away.

A few seconds later, she reappeared at Havenfield. After ringing the doorbell three times, she came to the conclusion that Grady and Edaline were in the back. With terribly aching legs, she half-ran, half-limped around the house.

"Hi Mom! Hi Dad!" she called once she reached the backyard.

"Hi sweetie!" Edaline replied. "Glad you're back! By the way, your father is also glad, he's just a little... busy right now." Both their heads turned to Grady, who was wrestling with the verminion AKA the Hamisterzilla of Doom.

Grady grunted and finally managed to force Hamsterzilla back into it's pen(?). Sophie breathed a sigh of relief- even after almost dying like 7938475893475 times and facing the Neverseen also too many times, she was still a bit scared of the verminion. It's not her fault! The stupid thing had always been out to get her!

"Hi Sophie!" Grady said. "How was the Black Swan meeting?"

Sophie groaned- for a second, she'd forgotten about the news. Trying to hide behind her hair, and demolishing her eyelashes, she said "Fintan escaped from his prison."

"Wait, _Fintan?" _Grady said incredulously. "Fintan _Pyren?" _

"How many Fintan's do you know?" Edaline asked him.

Grady ignored his wife. "As in, the crazy psychopathic pyrokinetic lunatic who's tried to kill you and your friends multiple times?"

"Uh... yeah. That one." Sophie said. Her dad really wasn't helping her already virtually nonexistent optimism.

A dangerous Angry Overprotective Father Look™ passed over Grady's face. "If he ever hurts you or your friends again..." he growled.

"You'll kill him. We know, Grady." Edaline interrupted. "Calm down. I'm sure the council- well, no, probably not the council, the Black Swan, maybe- will find him soon enough and put him back in prison where he belongs."

Grady grunted in agreement, but the Angry Overprotective Father Look™ remained on his face. Understandably- Sophie didn't _exactly _have the best track record for staying safe.

A metaphorical light bulb appeared over Edaline's head. "Well, why don't we worry about this later? For now, we can eat some mallowmelt!"

Both Grady and Sophie cheered up considerably at this. "Mallowmelt!" they both exclaimed in unison. Forgetting about Fintan, they rushed towards the house to eat their gooey slices of heaven.

**Casually waxing poetic about mallowmelt. Lol. Hope you guys liked this chapter- I really like scenes with Grady and Edaline, even though they're hard to write. And I _love _making things really awkward for Sophie and ****EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNS! **

**Whoo for longest chapter! (I think)**

**AHHHHHHHHH "almost" forgot! Need your opinion on the most important part of the book...**

**WHAT COLOR SHOULD THEY DYE IGGY?! **

**I'll be opening up a poll at some point but first I'd like to get some suggestions for the options. So far I have red (whoo my favorite color!) and gold (lol Gryffindor Iggy) but please tell me if you have other ideas!**

**pLeAsE rEvIeW! **


	6. Chapter 5

**Okay, so, um... eight days? Not that bad, right? **

**Eva L: Don't we all? Especially Linh ;). WHOO, KEEPHIE FOREVER! Sophitz fights are great, and so fun to write because a) they're Sophitz fights! b) it's nice to see Sophie FINALLY standing up to him and c) it's the easiest way to keep Fitz in character! Yes Angry Overprotective Father Look ™ shall be copyrighted! Purple? Okay cool. I'll put it on the poll.**

**A River Of Ink: Cool, silver! It shall go on the poll! They're way easier to write than the actual chapter XD. Marella is the entire fandom. So is Ro. Glimmer makes me think of THG too! That theory _kinda _makes sense, but a) there have been too many fake deaths in the series, b) yeah, the age thing, and c) I lowkey ship Glam. BUT MY PATHETIC GLIMMER THEORIES SHALL BE REVEALED! Lol. Thanks!**

**Mallowmelt: Okay! Thanks! It'll go on the poll!**

**Cary Swirls: Yes very funny ™. XD. You're welcome! I was writing/planning a lot for Swan Song that week and it benefited all of you! Hmm... silver has already been requested, and black shall go on the poll as well! Lol. Yes, EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNS! I think you did spell that right! Idk, I copy-and-paste it most of the time. But yeah it's my new favorite nickname for Fitz! Well... along with Chandelier Head, Uncle Wonderboy, and Ritzroy Savory Cracker, lol. Thank you so much!**

**PersonWhoReads: Relatable name, XD. Maybe there was. Idk. I'm hardcore Sokeefe but I also LOVE Kam (Multishipping! Aaahhhh!) so I might have subconsciously added it, XD. But no, it won't happen in Swan Song.**

**MeeIsFarrow101: Lol, you probably should! It probably wouldn't work again though. I was just feeling very inspired that week. Thanks! YES, BEGONE, WRITER'S BLOCK! I actually am in America, yes, but please don't kill me. I STILL HAVE A SHADY BLACK BELT PROTECTION SQUAD ™! **

**IStillHopeForSophex: Your username is an oof. I'm glad it inspired you! But please don't, like, plagiarize Swan Song, or blatantly steal all of my ideas. Ew, writer's block! Thank you so much! Have I converted you to the ****sophex-turned-SOKEEFE-but-still-hopes-for-sophex side? Muahahahaha. Yes, I would like the cookie, thanks. Periwinkle? Hmm... I sense you may have a ship-related motive for that..**

**MidnightBunnyy: Great minds think alike! (Or extremely weird ones XD.) **

**FlowerGirl15: Hehe... don't get used to it. Lol, the only time I feel like I can actually keep Fitz in character is when he's being a jealous Iggy Fart. Definitely, Keephie forever! Ahh, Grady/Edaline and Sophie scenes are so awesome BUT SO HARD TO WRIIIIIIITE! Thanks!**

**Woah, nine reviews! Thank you guys all so muchhhhh. Anyway, this chapter is basically going to be entirely theories- even more so than the other chapters- and mostly about Glimmer and the Neverseen. These were pretty hard to come up with (and a lot were stolen from other people on the KOTLC wiki lol) so please don't judge TOO much.**

**Crowd: Um, may I remind you that any intelligent person should judge every word you type?**

**Me: Dear Lord, not you again.**

**Crowd: Believe me, that's what we thought when we saw you too.**

**Me: *Sigh***

**Crowd: If we both hate each other, why don't we just leave?**

**Me: bEcAuSe ThE fAnS LiKe iT!**

**Crowd: What fans?**

**Me: Shut up. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Crowd: Pfft yeah like that's gonna happen.**

Two hours and 948534 pieces of mallowmelt later, members of the Black Swan were sitting in Sophie's living room. Some were glaring at her, understandably, because she didn't save any mallowmelt for them.

"You kids! Quite bickering and pay attention!" Mr. Forkle snapped.

Glimmer leaned over to whisper in Tam's ear "Does every sentence he says begin with 'you kids?'"

Tam shrugged. "Honestly, most of them."

Linh, who was on the other side of Tam, splashed them both with water and ordered them to pay attention. Marella laughed at that, and Mr. Forkle glared in the direction of the four of them.

"Now that you kids have settled down, I have a few questions for Miss Glimmer."

"Just Glimmer is fine." Glimmer said.

"Okay then, Just Glimm-" Dex started.

Marella shoved him. "DAD JOKES ARE NOT ALLOWED!"

Mr. Forkle sighed, because _those kids _would NOT settle down. "I prefer to keep things formal, Miss Glimmer. You should at least consider yourself lucky that I'm not calling you by your real name- which I could easily figure out."

"As far as you know, Glimmer _is _my real name."

Mr. Forkle sighed again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. "All right, Miss Glimmer. Would you be willing to answer a few questions?"

"I'm not going to tell you who I actually am, if that's what you're wondering." Glimmer said defiantly. Linh sighed and gave her a disapproving look.

"If you don't feel comfortable sharing your identity yet, that's perfectly fine. I myself have had _many _secret identities. Anyway, I was actually planning to ask some questions about the Neverseen. Mr. Tam tells me that you seemed to be a fairly trusted member, and if that is the case we would like some information about our enemies."

Glimmer shrugged casually, but still looked a little suspicious. "Okay. What do you want to know first?"

"How about you start with who we're fighting against and what their abilities are?" Sophie suggested.

"Um... okay. So, you know Gisela and Vespera, obviously. Um, Alvar used to be with us until that time we attacked Everglen- _I wasn't there, by the way. _Gethen. And there are some, like, ogres and dwarves and goblins, but I don't know any of them by name. Um... Ruy's still there and helping with the plans, but his psionopathy isn't working anymore... that's good, right? You know all these people so far?" Everyone nodded. "Okay, so, um, all the other people I only know by their code names, but I know their abilities so that's really what's important to fight them, right? So, there's Trix... he's a Guster. There's a guy called Axel... he's our technopath, and he's actually really good. Um, Silver. Her real names Shrivani- I actually know that one. She's a beguiler. And, um, the only other one I know is Mist, he's a phaser."

Sophie was scribbling all this down and nodding. "That's it?"

"Yeah. Sorry."

"You don't know who any of those people are in, like, who they are in the Lost Cities?"

"Um, Silver was banished, so we're not going to identify her as a traitor. I'm not sure about Mist since I barely ever saw him. Like, if I saw him now I'd recognize him, probably, but I don't have any good information. Axel... he's got some sort of important job here, but I don't know what and I don't know any names."

"I could try to find all the technopaths in the Lost Cities and then you can tell me if you recognize him?" Dex suggested.

"Okay, that's actually, like, a good idea."

Mr. Forkle cleared his throat. "Thank you, Miss Glimmer. Do you know anything about the Neverseen's plans, either long-term of short-term?"

"I know their long-term plans, but not really the details. A lot of this is actually from eavesdropping..."

"That's fine, anything helps." Mr. Forkle assured her.

"Okay. Um. I know they were planning an attack on the goblins. I don't really know when, but I know they are. I think it's sometimes soon-ish... like within the next few months soon-ish."

"Um, how are they planning to attack the goblins?" Sophie said. "They're like, really, _really _strong and well defended. It would be incredibly easy for them to defend themselves against..." she counted on her fingers. "Nine elves, plus whatever other species are there- the goblins would still outnumber them in size and in strength. We've been fighting the Neverseen for years- they may be overconfident, but they're _not _that stupid."

"I know. That's what I couldn't figure out too. Here's the part I only know through eavesdropping..." Glimmer paused. "I'm pretty sure I heard Vespera say something about 'an army of humans.'"

Sophie blinked. "Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. I don't know how they're planning to do that, but that's bad."

"Yeah. Very bad. But I'm sure we have a few months- I think Gisela said they need Keefe to pull it off."

Sophie breathed a tiny sigh of relief. Things still sucked, but if the Neverseen's plans relied on Keefe cooperating, things suddenly looked a lot better for them.

"That's better. Keefe won't help them. Ever."

Fitz raised an eyebrow and stared at her. "Would he? We know he's already-"

Sophie glared back at him. "Um, we know he's learned from his mistakes. He would _never _do that again."

"_Um,_ Keefe is pretty unpredictable." Fitz fired back. "He might think he's _'helping' _again."

"_Um_, he's your _best friend. _Shouldn't you trust him?"

"_Um,_ I can also learn from my mistakes."

Sophie had no response to this- only intense, _intense _glaring and a mild struggle not to inflict on him. Yeah, it's pretty obvious he was jealous of Keefe- but that didn't mean _start assuming he's going to join the Neverseen for real. _Like, seriously! And she and Keefe weren't even... okay. She was getting off topic.

Linh's head whipped between the two of them like she was watching a tennis match. "Okay, can you guys, like... calm down? Now is really not the time."

Sophie and Fitz both muttered apologies- to the group, not to each other- and shut up but continued glaring.

"Um... Glimmer, do you have any other information?" said Dex awkwardly.

"Yeah, actually- and don't worry, it gets worse. Vespera wants to continue her Nightfall experiments to make guilt not a problem for elves anymore- and once they figure it out, they're going to commit a mass human genocide."

Sophie groaned. _Why. The. Mallowmelt. Did. Things. Just. Keep. Getting. Worse!? _Things looked even more hopeless now than when she found out Fintan escaped- and that was pretty bad. She was just about to open her mouth and say something very optimistic like "We're all doomed," when Linh talked instead.

"How can we be sure we trust you?" Linh said. "I don't mean to pressure you- well, actually, I kind of do- I don't mean to be obnoxious about it, and I'm really sorry, but I need to know who you are before I can actually trust you."

Glimmer bit her lip as she looked like she was actually considering it. "Promise you won't tell the council?" she said finally.

Tam snorted. "Please. We hate the council at least as much as you do- probably more. If you're worried about the council finding out who you are, I promise they never will. Not unless you want them to."

Glimmer continued chewing on her lip. "Promise you won't tell them?"

"Promise," everyone else said in unison.

"Okay... so, um... Glimmer actually is my real name. I just made it seem like it was a nickname so no one would figure it out. Um... I'm seventeen. A few years ago, I was... uh... sent to Exillium."

"Oh, you were worried the council would send you back?" Linh said sympathetically. "It's okay, they won't. And we went to Exillium too, by the way. Tam and I."

"Really?" Tam nodded. "Oh. Okay. So, um, yeah. I was in Exillium. Left hemisphere. My coach, she doesn't work there anymore, was Coach Shrivani. Silver. She apparently noticed my rebelliousness and vengefulness and hatred towards the council and decided to recruit me for the Neverseen. At the time I was fourteen. She was a beguiler, so obviously she was very... convincing. When I first started working with the Neverseen, they hid all the bad stuff... you know, the kidnapping, arson, et cetera... from me. I thought they were doing good things. And everything I heard about the Neverseen, Black Swan, and Council was all very biased, and, more often than not, beguilered. That's totally a word, by the way." Glimmer's entire explanation was rushed, as though she was trying to force the words out of her. "And um... yeah. That's it."

"Thank you very much, Miss Glimmer." Mr. Forkle said. "You kids are dismissed."

**Longest chapter! Though probably just because of the nine reviews I had to respond to/ the monster A/N at the beginning. While the chapter itself is "only" 1,457 words, the document itself is over 2,000! (2222 words!) Wow! Anyway, the Iggy poll is up! Thanks to everyone who suggested a color! Please go vote! Let me know what you think of my Glimmer theories. Please review! **


	7. Chapter 6

**Oh wow! Look! An... UPDATE! What is this sorcery? And it's only been... a week or so... **

**Idk. It felt like longer.**

**Crowd: Wish it was longer.**

**Me: Oh wow thanks.**

**Crowd: Anytime.**

**Me: THAT WAS SARCASM!**

**Crowd: Oh! I know sarcasm! *Sarcastic voice* Isn't this just the BEST STORY EVER? I love love LOVE it sooooooo much!**

**Me: ...shut up. Time to respond to reviews!**

**Three reviews, guys? _Disappointment. _**

**But thank you to the people who did review! **

**Mrs. Moonlark: Thank you! Lol, the nicknames. I do like Fitzalier and Foskets, but... Sophiemelt is a no. Wanna know why? It's because FANGIRLMELT (Me + Mallowmelt) is the OTP. Hopefully you don't slap me! I do have a Shady Black Belt Protection Squad ™. Yay! I will!**

**Eva L: Thank you! It took me a long time to tie it all together (though tbh most of it was stolen.) Glimmer actually is a pretty good name. The Hunger Games, right? Anyway... I'm not sure about Glam, but if they don't end up together I like their friendship. Marellinh, though, is glorious. And yes, so is the Sophitz fight. Mallowmelt jokes are indeed life, as is mallowmelt itself. You're welcome! Don't get used to it XD.**

**A River Of Ink: Thank you! You are, don't worry! As a matter of fact, I do know my Hogwarts house! I'm a Slytherdor (Half Slytherin half Gryffindor). How about you? Anyway, thanks! I had a hard time with Glimmer, but I finally actually like the theory! **

**Anyhow, ONTO THE CHAPTER!**

"Actually." Marella said. "While we're doing confessions and stuff, Linh and I have something to tell you guys."

Linh gave Marella a strange look. "We do?"

Marella gave Linh a _duh _look. "Yes, _we do." _It was then Sophie noticed that the two girls' hands were entwined, and Marella's thumb was brushing Linh's knuckles. Even Sophie's oblivious-ness could come up with a few theories on what that "thing" would be.

"Oh! Right! We _do! _Sorry. Um, okay. Yeah."

Silence followed. It was only broken when Mr. Forkle rolled his eyes and said "Well, will you kids get on with it?"

At the "you kids," Glimmer snorted. Tam whispered to her "It's funny now, but then it'll get annoying."

Glimmer shrugged and said "Yeah, probably. Anyway, I agree with Fork Man. Spill the tea."

"Um, okay. The tea shall be spilt." Marella said. "So, the thing is, um... Linh and I are..."

"Dating." Linh finished.

A fangirl shriek escaped Biana's mouth. "Oh my gosh! You _are! _It seems so obvious! Can I be maid of honor at you guys's wedding? And- oh! I just had an even better idea! Tam should be the flower boy!"

_If Keefe was here, he would draw a million pictures of Tam in a flower girl dress and torment him with it, _Sophie thought wistfully. Dear Mallowmelt, she was wishing for Keefe to come annoy everyone! _That's _how much she missed him! Sophie shoved that thought away and gave her congratulations to Linh and Marella. Though she wasn't sure the two girlfriends heard her over Biana still making wedding plans.

"-ooh, and when one of you throws the bouquet, you _better _be aiming it at me! And you guys, like, _need _me to help pick out your dresses! Oh my gosh, this is so EXCITING!"

"Calm down, Biana." Fitz said.

"YOU DO NOT TELL A FANGIRL TO CALM DOWN!" Biana half-shrieked.

"Fangirls are psychopaths." Fitz muttered under his breath.

"Hey!"

Once Fitz and Biana stopped arguing, and Biana stopped fangirling (verbally, at least), Marella and Linh waited for the rest of the group to give their reaction.

"Congratulations!" Sophie said enthusiastically, (though not as enthusiastically as Biana).

"How long have you guys been together?" Dex asked.

Linh blushed bright pink. "About a month."

Biana made some sort of inhuman noise.

"So, you guys are, like... okay? With this?" Marella said, a little sheepishly.

Sophie cleared her throat. "I'm the moonlark. I have five abilities. I have been completely genetically modified. I'm a human experiment. I have brown eyes. I grew up with humans. I'm a regent and I'm only in level five. I have five bodyguards. I'm part horse. I really don't think I'm allowed to judge you guys."

Dex and Fitz applauded. "Well said."

"Tam? What do you think?" Linh peeped.

All heads turned to Sir Salty Shadows, who was staring intensely at the couple. Finally, he said "Marella, if you hurt Linh, I will literally murder you. Understood?"

"Yes."

"I think Grady should be taking notes." Sophie whispered to Dex.

Dex nodded and laughed. "Same with Sandor."

Glimmer cleared her throat. "Okay, so, that's out of the way... anyone else have any big confessions to make?"

Everyone looked around the room, as though expecting someone to shout out "My secret identity is Councillor Bronte!" or "I like Twilight better than Harry Potter!" (Even though of course none of her elf friends had read those books... which seems kind of sad, now that Sophie thought about it) or something. Eventually, Tam turned his Intense Salty Shadows Look ™ to Mr. Forkle.

"I would like to request a confession," he said.

"Meaning...?"

"As Linh said, it's kind of important to know who someone is before you trust them. We've been working with the Black Swan for about a year and we still have absolutely no clue who half of your members are. I'd like to know some of their real identities- since, you know, I've trusted you guys for a year without knowing who some of you are. I think we've all earned the right to know. Sophie especially."

Honestly, Sophie _really agreed _with Tam. Voicing this opinion, she added "You know everything about me, probably more than _I _know about me. I totally deserve to know at least _something _about you guys- such as, you know, _your actual identities."_

Mr. Forkle sighed. "You kids," he muttered. "I'll hail Blur and see if he feels comfortable sharing his identity with you."

A few minutes later, Blur was walking through the walls of Havenfield into their living room. Quite literally, since he was a Phaser and could break down his body into tiny particles. Still partially phased (Is that the right term? It is now), Blur waved a smudged hand at them. "Hey guys."

"Hi." Linh responded.

"So, Mr. Blur, **(sir,) **would you mind un-phasing yourself for those kids?"

"He even does it in the third person..." Glimmer muttered.

Blur's blurry head nodded- and then it became un-blurry and turned into a normal head. Now that his features were actual features, Sophie knew the round cheeks and full lips looked familiar beyond that one brief glimpse of Blur she got, but still, she couldn't place it.

Marella tilted her head to the side. "I think I recognize that guy... wait! Wait, I know how I know him! He's Jensi's brother, um... um... hang on, I know your name, I just can't think of it right now... was it..."

"Jaxx?" Blur supplied. **(Credit to the name goes to Undecided13! I used it in Legacy, what is a Legacy too!)**

"Um. Yes. That. Right. I knew that." Marella laughed.

"_Keeeeeeep _telling yourself that." Tam joked. Marella playfully punched his shoulder.

"How do you know, um, Jaxx?" Sophie asked Marella. She was fairly confident that she'd never seen Jaxx before, (aside from that one time water splashed him, of course). He did look familiar though, like she knew someone related to him.

"He's Jensi's brother." Marella clarified, and it clicked into place for Sophie. She felt a little stupid for not figuring it out, but then again she hadn't really seen Jensi for a while. Honestly, Sophie felt a little guilty about that- but she knew she'd feel way more guilty if she had dragged Jensi into the whole Black Swan/Neverseen stuff. It was sad that leaving behind a friend was a _good _thing because otherwise they'd be in danger. Stupid Neverseen, it was their fault she couldn't just hang out with people and _not _worry about them getting hurt because of her.

"Oh, okay," Dex said, snapping Sophie out of her thoughts.

"Don't see why that had to be a secret." Tam said. "It's not like any of us have ever met him, other than Marella."

"I know you guys see my little brother a lot, and my family has no idea about my 'secret identity'. I'd prefer to keep it that way, so kindly refrain from telling him."

Sophie shrugged. "It's not like we see him much anyway." Another memory randomly popped into Sophie's mind. "Didn't you say that explaining your identity was a long story?"

"Eh, I figured it would be a longer story if my brother was here while I was explaining. The story of how I joined is kinda long, though. I'll leave out the details."

"Ooh! Story time!" Marella said. "Spill the tea!"

"Okay so basically..." Jaxx started. "Um, I manifested as a Phaser late. Like, _really _late. You guys know there's a rule in Foxfire, that if you don't manifest by midterms of Level Five you have to stop attending after the break?"

Everyone except Sophie nodded. Used to being out of the loop when it came to elf stuff, Sophie just shrugged. "Guess I know now."

"Yeah, so, I still hadn't manifested, like, a week before midterms. And before that, for like, a year, everyone figured I would never get an ability, so you can imagine how _nicely _everyone treated me. That was fun. Anyway, Mr. Forkle, who was in Sir Astin form at the time, felt bad for me so he helped trigger my ability. Literally _the day before _midterms, I manifested. In true leave-everything-until-the-last-minute fashion. So, yay! I have an ability! Huzzah! But my friend, who I basically only hung out with because we were both talentless outcasts, never manifested and never returned to Foxfire after the six-week break. And I was really annoyed with the council and the school and Elvin society in general, so Mr. Forkle recruited me the the Black Swan. The end."

Marella applauded his beautiful storytelling skills. Sophie was about to say "Well, I guess that's all. Bye," but before she could, Tam look over at Glimmer and said "Hey Glimmer, you okay?"

Sophie turned around to see Glimmer staring at Blur as though she was trying to figure something out, or remember a memory just out of reach. Eventually, she muttered "I think... he's also... Mist."

**MUAHAHAHAHA THE CLIFFIES ARE BACK! Lol. Hope you enjoyed it! Especially...**

**THE MARELLINH! That was totally my favorite part? Plot developments about the Black Swan? Pfft, how cares about those? Marellinh! Whoo! Go Marellinh! (By the way, this does not mean I've stopped shipping Dexella and Lylie- I'm just a multishipper and decided on Marellinh for this particular story. No, Dylie is not going to happen. I doubt that's a thing.)**

**Anyway, please review!**


	8. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the late update! But I've been pre-writing some chapters that are coming later (some big ones) and I am _super _excited for when they finally happen! There's a good chance you guys are going to hate me though...**

**Also, I've got a better excuse... i'Ve BeEn SiCk! ! ! ! I'm dyyyyyying!**

**Crowd: Drama queen.**

**Me: No really, I'm dying!**

**Crowd: Oh, really? YAY!**

**Me: *Sigh***

**But fear not, dear readers! I would _never _die without finishing the story first!**

**Crowd: Darn.**

**Anyway, let's respond to reviews, shall we?**

**Cary Swirls: Universe - "Lolllllllll, that's gonna happen. Not your fault though- *attacks me with the Plague* *points at me* IT'S HERS!" Anyway... WHOO MARELLINH! RELEASE THE FANGIRL INSTINCTS! Pretty much the whole fandom has the Jensi-brother theory. Trademark symbols are very funny ™! Mr SaLtY sHaDoWs! Hmm... I'll put a warning in XD. It's called afanfictionitis, and I have it too! Thank you!**

**Eva L: MARELLINHHHHHHHH! Biana is one of us! *Cackles* I honestly need fanart of Tam in a flower girl dress... "Sorry, Math Teacher, I couldn't do the homework this week. I needed to draw Sir Salty Shadows in a flower girl dress." XD. Muahahahaha! Thank you!**

**MidnightBunnyy: *Offended look* How dare you! I mean, it's true, but... how dare you! Lol.**

**FlowerGirl15: Yas I love cliffhangers! Marellinh forever! I'm a Lylie fan as well (multishipping!) but I decided on Marellinh for this fanfiction. Thanks!**

**MeeIsFarrow101: It'd be easier to list the things I _don't _ship, honestly! I don't ship Destina, but I know some people do, so... I guess it wouldn't the worst thing! **

**A River Of Ink: Slyther pride! Thank you! Biana is one of us! :) And we totally ARE psychopaths. I'll try!**

***Cringe* This chapter sucks. Don't read it. Seriously.**

Sophie stared at Glimmer for a few seconds in silence. All her friends did the same. The first person to speak was Blur (AKA Jaxx, and possibly also Mist), who obviously denied the accusation.

"What would make you think that?" Jaxx said in a perfectly normal voice. If he was lying, he was pretty good at it. "I don't even know who Mist _is._ Definitely not me."

"Is he lying..." Sophie started, but her voice trailed off as she realized that their Empath wasn't there. She allowed herself until the count of three to think about it and pull out her eyelashes, and then she returned to the more pressing matter- that the Black Swan might have a Neverseen member in their collective.

"He's lying." Mr. Forkle confirmed.

Blur- Mist- gave Mr. Forkle a confused look- and Sophie also noted a hint of panic in his expression. "And you know this how?"

Mr. Forkle didn't look at all ashamed as he said "I may have bent the rules of telepathy a little bit."

Blur said some really not-nice words under his breath. Sighing, he said "Fine. Yes. I am also known as Mist."

Tam gave a loud, melodramatic, and obviously fake gasp. "_Nooo. _Reeeeeally?"

Mr. Forkle ignored him and started interrogating Blur. "How long have you been working with the Neverseen?" Blur opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Mr. Forkle said "Just so you know, I'm still in your mind. So don't bother lying."

"Hmm." Blur said. After counting on his fingers and muttering under his breath for a while, he said "I think... like... nine or so years?" Upon seeing Mr. Forkle's horrified expression, he added "In my defense, when I was first recruited I thought it was another branch of the Black Swan. Then, when I finally figured things out, I decided I would rather be on the winning side."

"_Suuuuuuuure. _Winning side." Tam said in true Sir Salty Shadows fashion. "Keep telling yourself that. We'll let you labor under your delusion a little longer."

"What I don't get," Sophie thought aloud before Blur could offer a pro-Neverseen retort. "Is how the Neverseen don't know _everything _about the Black Swan. They know too much, definitely, but not as much as they'd know if Blur told them everything."

Blur grinned. "I mean, it'd look pretty suspicious if they suddenly knew everything with seemingly no source. They wouldn't have wanted to reveal the position of one of their spies."

Mr. Forkle gave Blur a strange look. "But you _did_ withhold some information for other reasons." Although it was phrased like a question, it didn't sound like one.

"That's true." Blur admitted. "Some things didn't seem important enough to share. Some things I saved in case I needed information to get me out of trouble later. When they seemed too disorganized or inept I didn't help them as much."

"What do they know now?" Biana and Dex asked together. They exchanged a brief look, like _Woah! You read my mind!_

Blur made a thinking face. "Let's see. They know Keefe still hasn't woken up. They know Glimmer is working with you guys now. They _don't _know about Brummevale. I told them the real identities of Mr. Forkle and Granite, but not anyone else."

Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie saw Dex blow out a small sigh of relief that the Neverseen weren't after his mom.

"They know about how the Moonlark's powers just improved. They know about the extra security measures the Collective discussed installing. And possibly some other stuff that I'm remembering right now."

"Do you know anything about Fintan's escape?" Marella pressed.

Rolling his eyes, Blur let out a long sigh. "What is this, Twenty Questions?"

"It might be even more than twenty." Biana shrugged. "This could go on for a while. We're a very inquisitive bunch. Now, _answer_."

"I knew we were planning to help him escape, but I have no idea where he is. Or what he has to do with our plans."

Under her breath, Sophie muttered "Helpful."

"When-" Linh started to ask, but before she could finish Mr. Forkle silenced her and said "The council can ask these questions at Jaxx's tribunal. You kids can save your questions until then."

Jaxx let out a fake, panicked laugh. On his face was a mixture of fear and disbelief. "Um... sorry, did you say tribunal?"

Raising an eyebrow, Mr. Forkle said "Surely you didn't expect to join the Neverseen, the Council's greatest enemy, and _not _face consequences?"

Instead of answering, Jaxx looked down and muttered some more not-nice words.

Mr. Forkle looked at Sophie and her friends. "Thank you kids very much. Especially Miss Glimmer."

"You're welcome." Glimmer answered.

Mr. Forkle took Jaxx's arm and, against Jaxx's protests, glittered away.

Finally, Sophie broke the awkward silence.

"So, who wants mallowmelt?"

***Rereads chapter* *Groans* *Starts hitting Swan Song Chapter Seven with a sledgehammer* SO! BAD! UGH! TERRIBLE! **

**Lol, I really wish I hadn't decided to make Blur Mist. It was a totally spontaneous decision that I decided on while writing last chapter, and I went with it like "Ooh, what a great plot twist idea! Hehehe I'm so evil." Then, I had no idea where to continue with that "great plot twist," so now I'm just kind of winging it. We'll see how that turns out!**

**Anyway, please go vote on the Iggy color poll if you haven't already! And, as always, please review!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Hello, children! You may rejoice! Gone are your days and days of endless pain, just waiting for your favorite author ever to-**

**Wait, have I done this intro already? I think I've done this intro already.**

**Or maybe it was one that I used for a prewritten chapter.**

**Idk. The perils of being disorganized.**

**Woah, fast update! Probably because I received a death threat. *Shrugs* Whatever works.**

**Anyway, guess what? I've reached 2,000 views! *Confetti***

**Crowd: Those poor 2,000 people.**

**Me: Oh shut up.**

**Anyway, respond to reviews!**

**Eva L: Sir Salty Shadows Saga XD. Just tell me what color you want! Anyway, thanks! **

**Mallowmelt: Thank you! Humor is one of my many great talents. **

**Crowd~ HAHAHAHAHAHAHA _sureeee._**

**Me~ See? I just made them laugh!**

**Crowd~ No no no, we were laughing because it's funny in a sad way to see something as pathetic as you.**

**Me~ ...at least I made them laugh.**

**Anyway, thank you Mallowmelt!**

**A River Of Ink: All lies, but... fine. Definitely mine isn't any better than yours! Oh no... writer's block. I'm sorry it has plagued you. Anyway (I say it a lot too!) there is a chance! I'm actually undecided on the ships so far, other than Sokeefe (duh) and Marellinh. Tiana is my ship, but I think Diana and Glam is more likely, so... AHH! MULTISHIPPING! Thank you! :D Lol I love ranting.**

**BigBookBoi: Um... do you actually? Or are you just kidding? Sorry for being paranoid! **

**MeeIsFarrow101: Yes, the sparkles! Thank you! Ugh, probably what I'll do. I'm thinking about it... I actually have a ~1,200 word document for planning! Lol, plots are hard. :D**

**FlowerGirl15: Somewhat decent... high praise right there. It actually was shorter, nice job noticing that! 1,000 words is usually my minimum, but that one was only 800 or so. Whoops. Lol, telling me to stop doubting my writing is like telling me to not procrastinate- impossible! But thank you so much!**

Eventually, Sophie's friends left her house one by one. First Marella and Linh decided to go get ice cream in Atlantis together (which brought a lot of fangirl squealing from Biana), then Tam left with Glimmer for "no _particular_ reason," meaning, to stalk the new couple (dubbed Marellinh by Dex on Keefe's behalf) out of overprotective-brotherly obligations. Biana and Fitz left pretty soon after that. Biana's explanation was "Mom and Dad want us back," and Fitz's explanation was "She's going to write fanfiction about Marella and Linh." By then, Dex was the only one left.

"Want to go up to my room?" Sophie asked.

Dex shrugged and agreed.

The two friends made their way up the staircase to Sophie's bedroom.

"Keep the door open!" Grady called as they passed him.

"Grady!" Edaline scolded, but she was laughing. "You know Dex and Sophie are only friends. Besides, Sophie likes K-"

"MOM!" Sophie shrieked, her face burning like Fintan's everblaze. "DAD! STOP! PLEASE!"

Dex laughed as well, his face a little pink from Grady's comment but he seemed to enjoy watching Sophie's embarrassment. Offering her a kind-of-sympathetic-but-mostly-amused smile, he told her "That's how you know your parents love you; They tease you endlessly about crushes and stuff. And-" He nudged her shoulder as Sophie rolled her eyes at her annoying parents and they continued up the stairs, "-At least you don't live with the triplets like I do. That's like dealing with a million Uncle Gradys, a few hundred Aunt Edalines, and we'll throw in a few Sandors."

Sophie's slightly cooler face grinned at her best friend. "Oh, you poor thing. What have they done to you now?"

"Besides the usual embarrassing comments, stealing my stuff, trying to read all my journals, et cetera? Last week they dyed my Foxfire uniforms bright pink. And whatever I do to try and change it back doesn't work!" Dex wailed melodramatically. He heaved a long sigh. "It's going to be awful once Foxfire reopens."

Sophie gave a little laugh, but tried to act like she was being sympathetic. By then, the two had reached Sophie's bedroom and sat down on Sophie's bed.

"Custard burst?" she offered, grabbing her Very Secret Elvin Sweets Stash out from under her bed and holding it out to Dex.

"Didn't you just have, like, fifteen pieces of mallowmelt?" Dex asked incredulously.

Sophie shrugged. "Something like that, so?"

"How do you... like... _eat _all that? That should be almost impossible." Despite his incredulity over Sophie's enormous appetite for Elvin desserts, Dex did take a few and shove them in his mouth. Over on the other side of the room, Iggy let out a loud burp.

Dex studied Iggy, head tilted to the side. "Ice blue, huh? When did you dye him? Ooh, and was it because you're in _lo-"_

"Um, a while ago." Sophie interrupted loudly, refusing to acknowledge what she knew Dex was implying- _because she wasn't even the one who dyed Iggy! _Desperate to make that clear to Dex, she acted like her face wasn't bright red when she told him "And actually, Ro dyed him not me. Something about how she was _going _to use teal because of Fitz, but her teal dye elixirs have flesh eating bacteria, while her ice blue elixirs were _perfect _for dyeing imps."

"Riiiiiiiiiiiight," Dex said, stretching out the word _way _too much. "But..."

Sophie braced herself.

"You haven't asked me to re-dye Iggy yet, which makes me think that, subconsciously-"

Sophie shoved him. "Honestly, Dex! You're almost as bad as Grady!"

"Only _almost, _huh? I need to work harder." Dex grinned maliciously. **(No, not deliciously, like I initially typed accidentally. Whoops. What a yummy smile.)**

Very maturely, Sophie stuck her tongue out at him. "Focus on tormenting the triplets, not me! I'm innocent!"

Dex stuck his tongue out back. "Innocent. Sure."

Retracting her tongue back into her mouth, Sophie flopped back on her bed and laughed. Despite her annoyance at Dex, she was glad to be just spending time with her best friend, talking about nothing really important and laughing and having fun. Almost like a normal teenager.

Nothing about their lives were normal, but at least Sophie was reminded that she had the most amazing friends ever to get her through it all.

Eventually, Dex received a hail on his imparter from his mom, telling him to come home. Since he was in the middle of watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,- _Yes! I'm finally introducing these poor elves to true art! _Sophie thought,- **(couldn't resist) **Dex ignored her. Pretty soon after, he got another hail. This time, his mom threatened to send the triplets over to Havenfield and have them drag him home/ embarrass him until he left out of shame. Muttering about how unfair that evil genius move was, Dex said goodbye to Sophie and left.

The next day was relatively uneventful. Sophie visited Keefe in the Healing Center again, of course. Nothing had changed in the last day for him, to Sophie's immense disappointment but not really surprise. Out of curiosity, she decided to check on his dreams again- _and no, what are you talking about, there's no way she entered his mind because a little tiny part of her secretly deep down hoped that he was dreaming about her again. _Even if she did hope he was dreaming about her, which she _didn't, _her nonexistent hopes would have been crushed. Keefe was dreaming about forming a pranking alliance with the E. L. Fudges, and together they had already dyed Tam's bangs bright pink, and then sung "The Ballad Of Bo And Ro" as a full choir, with Keefe conducting. Keefe was just about to explain to the elf-shaped cookies how they would recreate the Great Gulon Incident, when she was interrupted by someone forcefully saying her name.

"That was the fifth time I tried to get your attention!" said a certain pink-haired ogre princess. "You were staring at him pretty intensely. Don't tell me- did his tragic comatose state awaken some hidden feelings inside of you? Because if so, a kiss might work. Go ahead and try it."

Sophie, who most definitely was _not _the color of a tomato right now, sputtered indignantly. "What- that- no- that is _not _what I was doing," she said, composing herself. "I was checking on his mental state telepathically, and I just needed a lot of concentration for that. I am not going to recreate Sleeping Beauty with him."

Her mind flashed to the Keefe Sencen response to that: _Well, I am sleeping, and I _definitely _am a beauty. _

Ro gave her a knowing smirk. "Okay. So how is his mental state? Was he dreaming about _you?"  
_

"No!" Sophie snapped, _glad _(and definitely not at _all _disappointed) that it wasn't a lie. "He was actually dreaming about elf-shaped cookies pulling pranks with him. They were about to recreate the Great Gulon Incident."

"I see..." Ro's attention turned to the comatose elf boy on the bed. "So, Lord Funkyhair. I've got some brand new bacteria, and... let's just say if I release them on your head, your hair really will be quite funky."

Keefe didn't move.

Ro huffed. "Fine. What if I threatened to shave your head? Would that motivate you to get up? Huh?" Sophie could tell Ro was trying to keep her tone lighthearted and snarky, but even the professionally sarcastic ogre princess couldn't hide the pleading desperation that had seeped into her voice. While Ro continued with the threats, and even made good on the one to dump a bucket of ice water on him, Sophie just sat on the other side of Keefe and transmitted pleas for him to wake up. Neither Sophie's nor Ro's attempts worked.

At some point later, Sophie got a hail from Biana asking her to come play base quest with her, Chandelier Head (Biana's words), and Dex. Since she didn't really have anything better to do (being here at the Healing Center was only depressing her), she agreed.

After playing Girls vs Boys for a while, girls winning every time, the boys declared it unfair and they switched to Vacker siblings vs Foster/Dizznee cousins. Then Fitz said it was _still _unfair, so they played a few rounds of Fitzphie vs Diana. During those rounds, her EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNS kept trying to apologize for all the arguing they had been doing yesterday, but Sophie didn't want to talk things out until she could better sort through her feelings, so she told him to "just play the game, we can talk about this later."

Once Grady and Edaline hailed her to come home for dinner, Sophie left Everglen, ate, and then had an imparter discussion with Biana about matchmaking. Biana admitted to Sophie that she was actually starting to have second thoughts about signing up for the match in a few months, but she didn't know how her parents would feel about that, and she wanted Sophie's input.

"Besides," Biana told her mysteriously. "I probably wouldn't be matched with the person I like anyway."

When Sophie pressed further, Biana refused to disclose the identity of this elf- only that no, it wasn't Keefe, there was no reason for Sophie to be jealous.

"Why would I be jealous?"

"Never mind."

They chatted for a while longer, until Biana said she had to go and hung up. At about nine o' clock, Sophie received a hail from Councillor She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (maybe the Harry Potter movie was messing with her mind.)

Avoiding eye contact, You-Know-Who informed Sophie that the tribunal for Jaxx Babblos would take place in two days time.

**Over 2,000 words! Only 'cause I had a long A/N, though- the chapter itself is about 1600 words. Anyway, this one isn't so bad! Again, please vote on the Iggy poll- I've only gotten 5 votes so far. Gold and rainbow are tied!**

**And, as always, please review! I'm almost at 50! It seems like just yesterday that I was first publishing the story...**

**I'll shut up now.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Fast update? O.o What is this sorcery? Consider it a Valentine's Day gift! AKA A. Fan had a lot of math homework, so she procrastinated it by writing fanfiction.**

**Whoo! We made it to fifty reviews! Plus, nine whole reviews just on last chapter! Thank you guys so much!**

**Crowd: Were all the reviews flames?**

**Me: ...no**

**Crowd: Huh, guess they were all just lying then.**

**Me: Hey, don't call my fans liars!**

**Crowd: Um... that's an oxymoron.**

**Me: _YOU'RE_ AN OXYMORON!**

**Anyway...**

**Mallowmelt: :)**

**FlowerGirl15: Lol. Thanks! I know- I kind of live for fluff, plus I just like Sophie getting to be a normal teenager. At some point... Lol, and I stopped lying to myself about my feelings for mallowmelt! Come on Sophie, it's not that hard. Foster-Keefe is life- I'm glad you like it! :D**

**Eva L (Second review): Biana is all of us XD. Yay! Rainbow Iggy! Thank you!**

**Eva L: (First review) Ikr? Come on Sophie! Glam? Maybe... Diana? Maybe... I'm actually undecided as of right now (I'm a Tiana fan so...) Yes, Chandelier Head can die single. Me too XD. (Second review) ****Biana is all of us XD. Yay! Rainbow Iggy! Thank you!**

**FastReaderBadWriter: Thank you! But it actually kinda is. I know it's kind of hard to figure out what to say in a review, but those things kinda make my day, so you can just review, like, a smiley face or "great job!" and I'll be really happy. Thanks for reviewing eventually though! And no, I update whenever the heck I feel like it.**

**IStillHopeForSophex: Maybe? Platonic Sophex is life, but not romantic Sophex. But yay! Actually, no... But does Biana like Dex? Good question. Either Dex or Tam; I'm undecided.**

**1) Neither do I. :)**

**2) Biana is all of us XD.**

**3) Actually, yeah.**

**4) Thank you!**

**I will!**

**MidnightBunnyy: YES GOOD JOB BIANA!**

**BigBookBoi: Okay! Um... okay?**

**A River Of Ink: Maybe? I think it was close. (Indeed! *Joins you in fluffy pile*) Yay! Harry Potter! Yay! Cliffhangers! (No, but we've figured it out. Thanks for asking!) Lol, neither can I. That's the best analogy ever! Farewell! (Your exit is so relatable...) (Almost everything in this response is in parenthesis.)**

**Enjoy the chapter guys!**

Two days passed by. They were that odd combination of "wait, that felt like... five minutes or something! Was that seriously two days?" and "Ugggggghhhhhh. It's been 1:30 for the past _two hours._" Some parts of the day, like the time she spent staring up at the ceiling as she tried to fall asleep, or the ten minutes she spent watching Dex yell "OPEN SESAME!" at Councillor Not-Her-Mom's cache before she got bored and left to go visit Keefe, seemed to drag on forever. The time she spent baking mallowmelt with Edaline or bingeing the remainder of the Harry Potter movies (because come on, you can't just watch _The Sorcerer's Stone _and then stop!) seemed to fly by. But no matter how it felt, the day of the tribunal was finally here.

Sophie put on something nice-_i__sh _for the semi-formal occasion- a red dress with a fluffy skirt that Biana said looked really pretty, and Keefe agreed (The thought of which brought a warm blush to Sophie's cheeks, but he was probably just teasing her. Or, he zoned out from Biana's fashion-talk as was just pretending he heard the question. More likely). This time, she drew the line at makeup. Vertina tried to offer advice on a new hairstyle, but Sophie ignored her and put her hair in a simple ponytail.

**(And _phew, _I can stop talking about fashion!)**

Arriving at tribunal hall reminded her of the last time she came. Keefe had teased her about how often _she _had been the one on trial... and then, Sophie remembered with perfect clarity (not just because of the photographic memory) her asking if she'd smudged her makeup and him telling her, with a slight catch in his voice, that she looked... perfect. A strange mix of emotions hit her at once. _Come on Sophie, you're better than this, _she told herself, and continued remembering how Keefe and Ro had made bets on how long the tribunal would take. The two of them certainly made an amusing pair...

...And, she was sad again. Missing the aggravating antics of Keefe and Ro, of all things.

Keefe's absence really had turned her into a complete mess.

"Hey," said a distinctly accented voice behind her. The owner of which would not be happy to know she was thinking about Keefe just now- thankfully, Sophie had confidence that EBWSATBJFWMSLSNS wouldn't bend the rules of telepathy like that.

"Fitz! Hi!" That odd squeak in her voice... _cringe._

Fitz opened his mouth to say something else, but before he did another boy came over, one with a striking resemblance to the one on trial. Sophie had rarely seen Jensi's face _not _smiling, but his face was noticeably empty of one right now.

"Hey," he said, none of his usual enthusiasm in his voice. "Haven't seen you guys in a while."

"Yeah," Sophie agreed awkwardly.

"Anyway, just thought I'd say hi," Jensi continued, equally awkward.

"Um, yeah. Do you want us to sit with you?" Sophie offered. "For, like... moral support?"

"Family only," Jensi responded. "...The rest of the family anyway."

Fitz offered a sympathetic smile, and Sophie remembered that Fitz knew what he was going through. He waved goodbye to Jensi and took Sophie's hand, leading her over to where the rest of their friends were sitting.

_He's holding my ha-_

_SHUT UP._

A few of Sophie's friends greeted her, but before she could respond, an elevated platform holding Jaxx rose up, and a hush fell over the crowd. **(It was a very large and heavy hush. Many casualties. May the victims of the crushing hush forever rest in peace.)**

"Name." Councilllor Emory demanded.

"Jaxx Babblos."

"Age."

"Twenty-eight years old."

"Ability."

"Phaser." Jaxx let out an annoyed huff.

"Do you understand why we've brought you before us today?"

"Because I'm not an idiot. I chose the winning side, and used my connection to the Black Swan to help us. I don't see why that's such a big deal."

Emery let out a loud and lengthy sigh and closed his eyes for a few seconds. Sophie guessed that the councillors were all thinking something along the lines of _Gasp! The nerve!_

Finally, he said "Okay. We know you're working with the Neverseen, and we already know that you're guilty. So we don't need to waste a lot of time doing that. Right now, we're working out what your punishment should be. And while we're at it, we _are _going to be asking a lot of questions about the Neverseen."

Jaxx rolled his eyes.

"First, let's start with what type of punishment you should have." Emery declared.

Sophie poked Dex in the shoulder and whispered "They're starting to run out of options for imprisonment."

"Yeah," Marella, who was next to Dex, agreed. "Like, Fintan's prison? Fail."

"Lumenaria? _Epic _fail." Dex helpfully contributed.

"Everglen?" Biana sighed. "That one didn't work out so well."

"And Exile seems a bit harsh." Linh finished.

"Exactly."

Their attention returned to Emery and Jaxx, who was now being interrogated about what crimes he committed. Although the Council didn't entirely trust her, Glimmer seemed the best option, so she had been called up to act as witness. Jaxx was explaining how he couldn't risk being found out as a spy, so he didn't actively commit any crimes nor break any laws (beyond just working with both the Nevereen and the Black Swan)- he pretty much just passed information and helped with planning. Glimmer reluctantly informed the Council that he was telling the truth, and Oralie was nodding as well.

"Well," Emery said. "Since it appears to be true that you didn't break many laws, we cannot punish you too harshly." Sophie saw Jaxx's posture relax. "So that means a memory break and Exile are out. Please wait while I further discuss things with the Council."

He closed his eyes and telepathically monitored the discussion/debate for 307 seconds (Sophie counted). Finally, he opened his eyes and announced "We will be placing Jaxx Babblos in the prison formerly occupied by Fintan Pyren."

"With better security, I hope." Sophie blurted. Instantly, she covered her mouth. Sophie had meant to just _think _it, maybe whisper it to a friend, but not announce it to the Council who she was _finally _on decent terms with. Thankfully, although many members glared at her, the Council didn't throw her out or anything. Oralie nodded and said "Yes, we're increasing security by hiring goblins as guards, and we will be replacing the walls with special Phasing-proof ones provided by one of our main Technopaths, Sir Akelan."

"Now, onto questions about the Neverseen," Emery announced. "Anyone can ask him. Oralie, please go make sure he answers honestly."

Oralie nodded, got up, and placed her hand on Jaxx's shoulder.

The only new information revealed through his interrogation was that the attack on the goblins was scheduled to be sometime between one month and two months from that day, Vespera was close to learning how to eliminate the effects of guilt in humans, and humans will be fighting in the attack on Glidingham (which they already suspected.)

"Any other questions?" Emery asked.

Dex stood up. "Do you know what happened to the caches- uh, Fintan's cache?" Sophie mentally facepalmed for not having thought of that- their caches were fake, of course they should try to look for the real ones! That goal had just gotten lost in a blizzard of almost deaths and to-do's and other crises to deal with. Everything was getting pretty overwhelming, to be honest with herself.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Jaxx admitted, the look on his face resembling the expression one might have after studying for five hours for a math test. "We gave them to our technopath, Axel."

"And Axel's real name is..." Emery pressed.

"I honestly don't know. I know he works for the council, though."

"We're working on trying to figure that out." Dex added.

"Okay. Anything else?" Silence. "Then that concludes our proceedings. You're dismissed."

**The end! I _think_ this chapter is short but... idk. **

**Oh, and bad. It was pretty bad too.**

**Anyway, this is probably the last you'll be seeing of Jaxx- but not the last you'll be seeing of Jensi! :)**

**Please review! **


	11. Chapter 10!

**Chapter ten! Yayyyyyyy! Ten whole chapters of me doing, like, absolutely nothing XD.**

**But seriously, I only just turned my ideas into something resembling a plot. And it's not even, like, a plot. Just a sequence of bullet points that are ideas for events. But hey, if you guys like it, I will gladly continue blindly typing words and pretending I know what I'm doing. Here's hoping it doesn't turn out terribly!**

**Crowd: Oh, don't worry. It will.**

**Me: Shut up losers.**

**Crowd: Takes one to know one.**

**Me: oH, sOoOoO oRiGiNaL!**

**Crowd: It's not like you're original. You're typing ****_fan_****fiction, for one thing!**

**Me: ...just shut up.**

**Some news for you guys (if you don't have/stalk instagram): **

**1) Book nine won't be released until _2021! _AHHHHH!**

**2) But... this November will bring "KotLC 8.5: Unlocked."**

**Btw I am NOT changing the title of Swan Song! **

**IStillHopeForSophex: Lollllll. Go publish your stories! Who needs reviews anyway? *Nervous laugh* *Looks around shrine of every review I've ever gotten ever* It's not like I'm desperately clinging to every ounce of praise I get here because I know I won't deserve it anywhere else (or here, but everyone's desperate to lie to me soo...) Anyway you didn't need to hear about my self esteem problems/ review obsession. I am not part of the Jensi appreciation club, but I liked Jensi's character and don't like how he got even more ignored than our Cinnamon Roll Dexy, so he'll come back at some point! I just need to get a whole lot of other plot stuff out of the way first. Thanks! *Looks back at 329047329032 word response* Yeah you didn't need to read all that. Sorry!**

**PersonWhoReads: Hi, PersonWhoReadsTooManyBooks! Soon, actually! *Glances around nervously* You heard nothing. Bangs Boy is just as salty as ever! We'll get more of him later! I actually ship Kam too! *Laughs* *Bows to Kam shrine* *Sighs* I'm such a multishipper. Tarella and Glam are okay, but I actually ship Tiana too! Ahh indecision! Anyway thanks for reviewing!**

**BigBookBoi: Thank you! :) Maybe closer to the end... but anyway, that was beautiful. I need, like, an entire spin off series about Iggy. **

**FastReaderBadWriter: I guess? Idk. Just use emoticons like :), :(, XD, etc. Or, words! Words are fun!**

**Mallowmelt: Thanks youuuuu! You won't have to wait long! *Glances around nervously* Darn I keep spoiling this thing. Ugh. Anyway, I haven't exactly decided yet, (as with most things about this fanfic XD) but that definitely would be cool! Now my weirdo brain is imagining Oralie beating him to death with a high heel... the things I come up with *eyeroll***

**A River Of Ink: Yay! Really? The first draft was actually like 98% dialogue/dialogue tags, and adding more descriptions is actually a huge goal in my writing, so I feel pretty accomplished! :) Thank you! Jaxx is Blur/Mist, so technically he's working with both but he's loyal to the Neverseen. (Parenthesis are fun! (Lol, my memory sucks too. I literally forget details about Swan Song all the time and I'm WRITING it! XD)) **

**FlowerGirl15: Yeah idk I'm actually updating fast (for once). Idk why. You don't have to wait too long! *Starts to glance nervously* Yeah I've told basically everyone by now so... *shrugs* Fun fact: Idk the exact ending! I actually called it Swan Song because I'm writing it as the last book and thought it'd be a fitting title, because that's what the actual phrase "Swan Song" means. And yes I'm questioning life itself too XD. Yay for 50 reviews! **

**Scibunnylove: Thank youuuuu!**

**So, anyway, enjoyyyyyyy!**

"So, I have good news and bad news." Grady said, walking into Sophie's bedroom.

Sophie groaned. "When adults say that, it usually means 'I have bad news that I'm going to sugarcoat.'"

Grady laughed. "Well... that's fair. But this news actually could be interpreted as good or bad."

"Okay... so... what is it?" Her mind, thankfully, stopped imagining worst case scenarios and began trying to think of things that could be good or bad. It was pretty hard (Grady killed Fitz for dumping Sophie, maybe? The world was experiencing a butterblast shortage but a mallowmelt excess? Mmm... mallowmelt. _Okay, focus, Sophie. _Um... Alina had been kicked off of the council? Wait, that was just _good_ news. Nothing bad about that one. Um...)

"Magnate Leto, or, Mr. Forkle, informed me that Foxfire will be reopening, starting tomorrow."

"Is that the good news or the bad news?" Sophie asked.

"I don't know. Which do you think it is?"

"Um... probably good news." Sophie decided. Honestly, yeah. She would lose her mind (even more so) after a few more days with virtually nothing to do except watch Keefe sleep, bother Dex, and play base quest. School might be boring sometimes... but at least it was something to do. Then she remembered... "Is there bad news?"

"Again, this might not be considered bad news. It's still on the 'Foxfire' topic. Since we spent a while without school, they'll be lengthening the school days and shortening the breaks so that you can finish the school year with an actual education."

Sophie groaned, but then again, that _did _make sense. Still, though. Longer school days!? Shorter breaks!? Ugh!

"Why are they reopening Foxfire anyway?" Sophie asked. "It's not like anything's changed; we did imprison Blur, but Fintan is still out there somewhere. Plus all the other Neverseen members."

"Yeah..." Grady said. He rolled his eyes. "Probably because the Council is trying to show the Neverseen that 'they're not scared' or 'the Neverseen can't come between these kids and their EDUCATIONS!'"

Sophie shrugged, not really having the energy to resume hating every one of the Council's decisions. "Okay. That it?"

"Oh, also, some more good news: Your mother's making mallowmelt!"

**~I was trying not to use these but oh well...~**

**(Btw I totally forgot Sophie's schedule so I'm making this up.)**

Walking into Foxfire didn't feel weird at all- Sophie was there nearly every day to visit Keefe anyway. But it _was _weird to take a different path than the one leading to the Healing Center. And it was definitely weird to re-enter the green Level Four halls and walk to a multispecial studies class (with her multispecial bodyguards trailing her, of course.) The lesson wasn't so bad- it wasn't really a lesson so much as a quiz Sophie had to take to see how much she remembered (um, photographic memory?) and where her mentor, Lady Waleska, should pick up. Then she got to go to lunch and try _not _to think about what was in the food (if it could even deserve to be called food). Next was an awkward telepathy session with EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNS! Yay!

"So, um, I know your relationship has been a little..." Tiergan cleared his throat. "Um, _rocky, _lately, and no, I don't feel the need to know the details, but I will say you should work on rebuilding your trust. Since I trust you two, I'll be leaving you guys alone while I go talk to Mr. Forkle. Bye!"

Sophie and Fitz stared at each other for a few moments after Tiergan left the room. _Don't blush- ooh! Teal!- don't blush don't blush don't blush- Does he still like me?- don't blush don't blush- Do I still like him?- don't blush-_

"So... should we each share our deepest, darkest secret?" Fitz asked.

Sophie groaned. "Oh mallowmelt no! We are _not _doing this again!"

Fitz chuckled. "Fair enough. Um... should we just ask each other questions? Since I don't want to make this too daunting for you, how about we each get a free pass where we can say 'nope, not answering that one.' Sound good?"

Not really, but... "I guess. You go first."

"Okay. Um... did Forkle tell you who your dad is? I promise I'm not asking for matchmaking related reasons. I'm just curious."

"Actually, no. I don't really want to know either." Sophie answered honestly, glad that wasn't _too _too bad.

"Your turn."

"Um..." Sophie searched her brain, and finally, a question that had sort of been nagging at her came to mind. "If you could go back in time, with full knowledge of everything that's happened in the past few years... would you ignore me that day you saw me in the museum?"

"No." Fitz answered.

"Promise that's the truth?"

"Promise."

**~Oh look I'm using these again~**

The next four days went in a relatively uneventful fashion. Sophie soon settled back into the school routine, but still disliked the extended day (although, they did get rid of study hall, so that's a plus!) Once it was the weekend, Sophie found herself settling back into the Pre-Foxfire's-Reopening routine of "Nothing to do."

Eventually she decided to go over to Everglen (hopefully she wouldn't see Fitz- Telepathy together had made things kinda awkward again), where Biana gave her a makeover. While she was braiding Sophie's hair, Biana told her that her parents were starting to ask her about matchmaking. Eventually, the two girls settled on "Go get the match packet, don't fill it out, and then wait until Biana feels ready before telling them," as the solution.

Biana still refused to tell Sophie her crush.

Sophie decided she couldn't really keep pressing Biana- after all, she hadn't told anyone about her old crush on Fitz (even though everyone could tell- but that's a different matter.)

Around lunchtime, she went back home, did a bit of homework, played with Iggy, and finally...

Received a hail from Dex.

"Sophie! Sophie, come on over to my house as soon as you can! Bye!"

**Ahahaha cliffhanger! Next chapter (and like 5 chapters after that) have already been written, actually, and will be uploaded every three-five days (just to torture you guys! :)). **

**Anywayyyyyy... this chapter was basically a filler chapter, but I wanted to reopen Foxfire so I did! **

**Anyway, the next few chapters shall be HIGHLY eventful. Just saying, though...**

**You guys are definitely going to want to kill me! :)**

**(Shady Black Belt Protection Squad ™!)**

**Please review! **


	12. Chapter 11

**Hello, dear readers! Yes, I am actually updating early! Mostly because I wrote this chapter a month ago! Anyway, this kind of thing will actually be normal for quite a bit! **

**Crowd: Oh, huzzah. More chapters. More torture.**

**Me: You know you could just _not read it._**

**Crowd: Don't you force us to?**

**Me: Oh yeah... right.**

**Anyway...**

**(Whoo! 3000 views!)**

**(Plus 75 whole reviews!)**

**(Now to respond to reviews...)**

**Cary Swirls: Hello! Mallowmelt IS amazing... and I'm always hungry for mallowmelt lol. Fitz's anger problems don't bother me as much as they bother the rest of the (sokeefe) fandom, but yes, I still don't like him. And no, it's NOT because he's breaking apart my otp! It's because he is, yes, superficial, and also arrogant, jealous, controlling, a _terrible _best friend to Keefe, and just irrationally gets on my nerves. (Woah, this turned into an anti-chandelier head rant XD.) But anyway, you didn't hear this from me, but... (whispers) he will wake up soon enough. I'M TRYINGGGGGG! If lols become too frequent, try mixing it up with a few XDs. Anyway thank you! :D**

**Keefsterforever: Thank you! i'M tRyInG! ! !**

**Eva L (Ch. 11): Because I am evil. :). Thank you! Don't worry... I'm a tad bit angry with myself. (Plus, Shady Black Belt Protection Squad ™!) And honestly, don't we all?**

**Eva L (Ch. 10): Idkkkkk. Yes, sokeefe is life. Me too! Oh wait... I'm the one torturing him. Whoops!**

**ArrowOfTheMoonlark: LoL yEs ThE cLiFfIeS! :) Filler chapters actually are necessary, so... You'll see! I KNOWWWW! But there is other stuff (including Unlocked) to get us through these tough times! Thank you! :)**

**MeeIsFarrow101: I reply to everyone who reviews! :P Don't worry, I will _definitely _continue typing stuff blindly. Oh no... guess I'm a drug dealer now. Thank you! **

**FlowerGirl15: Yay! (Definitely, but I personally am way too obsessed with the "normal" lives of the Keepers Crew (school, just hanging out, base quest, etc.) (Yes I did just use parenthesis inside parenthesis)) Anyway, I am excited too! And yeah, definitely... I doubt I'll even survive until Unlocked. **

**The siren song: Yes! Good cliffhanger! {I personally liked your old username, but it's your choice! And yay percabeth!} No problem! Weird is my life, so, um, yeah. Thanks!**

**Anyway, would anyone like a sneak peak at my notes for Swan Song? Of course you do.**

**Here are some examples of the bullet points I wrote, just the ones I felt wouldn't give anything away.**

**And just saying, if you thought I was actually a good writer, rest assured: This will change your mind.**

**~Sophie is sad**

**~Sophie and Fitz use cognate power**

**~AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHASDFGHJKLFANGIRLATTACKKKKKKK**

**~Incomprehensible sobbing noises**

**~Big BATTTLEEEEEEEE THINGYYYYYYYYYYY**

**~Council stuff, blah blah blah...**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

"Dex?" Sophie said, running into Dex's room as if there was a fire behind her. (Technically, it was more likely that there would be a fire _in_ Dex's room, but now was not the time to get into that.) Now was the time to get into the 35438957 questions spewing from Sophie's mouth incomprehensibly fast.

"Dexwhat'sgoingonwhydidyouhailmeisitsomethingbadohmallowmeltpleasedon'tbesomethingbadwaitOMGOHMYMALLOWMELThaveyoufiguredoutthecachearewefinallygoingtobeabletoopenthecacheDEXWHAT'SGOINGONAREWEGOINGTOLEARNTHEFORGOTTENSECRETWHATISSTELLARLUNEWE'REGONNAFINDOUTWHATSTELLARLUNEISKEEFE'SGONNAWAKEUPISTHISREALLYHAPPENINGDEXXXXXXXXXXXX!" **(Lol, sorry 'bout that. Good luck reading it XD.)**

Dex took a deep breath and rubbed his temples like he felt a headache coming on. "Sophie. Please. Slow down. I have absolutely no idea what the mallowmelt you are saying."

"Dex-what's-going-on-why-did-you-hail-me-did-you-open-the-cache?" Sophie repeated. Or, at least summarized. Slightly slower than before, but still mostly too fast for a human being (or elf) to understand. For weeks, _months, _she'd been waiting for something- _anything- _that could help them wake up Keefe. _Anything. _And now that it was finally, _finally _happening... could she be blamed, if she was overly excited and impatient? He was one of her... best friends... yeah, one of her best friends. She missed him, so much it physically hurt. He'd been in a coma for too long- any amount of time was too long, honestly, but now? It'd been so long she was starting to wonder if he might not...

No. She refused to let herself think that. Not now, when there was finally a chance! A chance wasn't a perfect guarantee- but it was better than what they'd had before. A chance returned to Sophie what she was starting to give up on- hope. A chance was a tiny glimmer of light in the bleak, pitch-black darkness of missing Keefe. And Sophie was going to focus on that chance like it was a lifeline.

These deep reflective musings gave Sophie the opportunity she needed to calm down. "Dex... is it... it has to do with the cache, right?" Dex nodded. "Did you... did you open it?"

"No." At Sophie's look of dismay, her entire world of hope crashing down around her, he added "But, we'll know the forgotten secret really soon! All we need is for Oralie to come. I hailed her, so she should be coming by in three... two... one..."

Both of their heads turned towards the door. Nothing.

Dex cleared his throat. "Um... three... two... one... three quarters... one half... Um. Um, hang on, I'm waiting for the perfect moment, uh... three... two..."

The door opened and Oralie walked in briskly. Similarly to Sophie, she had a rushed, panicked look on her face- though probably on a lower scale than The Panicky Miss Foster.

"One!" Dex yelled quickly, the second he saw her. Throwing a falsely smug glance at Sophie, he added "Whoo! First try! I'm so smart, aren't I?"

Sophie grinned back at him, somewhat contradictory to the fact that she was rapidly losing eyelashes. "Yes Dex, you are. Of course." Under her breath, she added "Keeeep telling yourself that."

Dex opened his mouth to send back a (very witty, naturally) retort, but before he could, Oralie cleared her throat.

"So, um, Dex, I presume this has something to do with the cache I gave you?" When Dex nodded, she continued with "In that case, would it be too much to ask that we try to do this as quickly as possible?"

"Why? Do you have _important council stuff _to do?" Sophie asked, with a salty tone that would have made Tam proud. "Far, _far _more important than one of the kids that saved the elvin world- _and you- _like 948753 times?"

Dex gave her an inquisitive look, and the message it sent was clear: Didn't you used to like Oralie? What happened?

Sophie had almost forgotten, she hadn't told anyone but EBWSATBJFWBSMSLSNS that Oralie was her biological mother- _not a mom, _just a DNA donor.

"No, actually," Oralie responded, seemingly unaffected by Sophie's conflicting emotions toward her (none of them were particularly good.) Sophie knew she could feel them- Oralie _was _a powerful empath, after all, and according to Keefe Sophie _did _have really strong emotion vibes. And maybe Sophie was just a _tiny _bit impressed and grateful that Oralie was putting the important things first and not suggested that they "talk it out" or something. "I don't have anything else to do. But this whole remembering-a-forgotten-secret-thing has gotten me somewhat anxious, as you can understand, and I'd prefer to get it over with as soon as possible."

Sophie's jaw almost dropped- it just seemed like such a _her _thing to say. Probably, she had said it, on multiple occasions (with the exception of the specific remembering-a-forgotten-secret part).

"What?" Oralie asked. "Surely it can't come as a shock that we're similar in that respect. After all, you are-" her voice cut off as she remembered Dex was right there.

Recognition began to dawn on Dex's face. As he turned to Sophie, she didn't need to be a telepath to know he was going to ask about the (correct) suspicions he obviously had- so she furiously mouthed at him _LATER!_

For a few seconds longer, Dex stared between the two of them in shock, before he gave his head a little shake and cleared his throat. "Um. Yes. Yeah, I figured out the password- it is a password, by the way." After rummaging around in his pockets for a bit, he held out the cache. "The password is _Purity." _When he said the words, the little crystal in the cache glowed.

"That's how I knew it was the right word," Dex clarified. "Because it glowed. Presumably, it has to be in Oralie's voice." He passed the cache to Sophie. Clearly, he expected her to pass it over to Oralie- smart not to risk throwing it- but Sophie was frozen. A million thoughts had begun rushing through her head.

Sophie stared at the cache between her fingertips. It looked almost like the marbles she'd play with as a kid. A harmless object used for a child's amusement.

It looked so tiny.

So insignificant.

Such a small thing to hold secret that could destroy their world.

They were about to learn a forgotten secret.

_They were about to learn a forgotten secret._

Suddenly, all of Dex's and her parents' and the council's and Oralie's warnings about how this could go wrong hit her. And she started worrying.

Worried that the secret would destroy Oralie's fragile sanity.

Worried that the knowledge could completely change the Elvin world- and not in a good way.

Worried that whatever they found wouldn't be enough.

Worried that it would confirm her fears about what stellarlune could have done to Keefe.

Sophie shook her head. The risk would be worth it.

The risk would be worth it.

Anything would be worth it if it could save Keefe.

She couldn't back out now, not when she was so close.

Sophie gave the cache one last look before handing it to Oralie.

Oralie held it close to her lips and whispered the words that would change everything.

**MUAHAHAHAHAHAHACLIFFHANGERSAREFUN! Hehe. Don't kill me, please?**

**If you're observant (don't feel bad if you aren't, neither am I) you probably noticed- the end part of this is the prologue. Good job! As a prize for coming to this realization, you win virtual mallowmelt!**

**Wanna know how else you can win some more virtual mallowmelt?**

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**'Kay, I'll stop.**

**...**

**...soon...**

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**BY REVIEWING!**

**Please review! :D**


	13. Chapter 12

**I'm back! Did you miss me? Course you did. I'm sure you were constantly checking, longingly staring at the screen to see if your favorite author had updated your favorite story...**

**Crowd: Um, yeah! We keep checking to see if Wolf Jade999 has updated Keeper of the Lost Cities: LGBTQ+ Edition. That's such a great story, have you read it? If you haven't you totally should.**

**Me: I would complain, but... that really is a good story. Okay, I'll let it slide this time.**

**Crowd: Wait... were you implying that _this _was our favorite story by our favorite author? BAHAHAHAHAHA hilarious.**

**Me: You're _meaaaaaaaan._**

**Crowd: Just honest, A. Fan. Now, continue with this trash. We're in a bit of a time crunch- I need to go read some _good_ fanfiction.**

**Me: Oh shut it.**

**Now, respond to reviews!**

**Mallowmelt: Thank you! **

**Eva L: Nom nom nom virtual mallowmelt. Yes, I just said that. Problem? Anyway, lol yes. I'm pretty sure the fangirl one was me writing about Sokeefe. Sophie/Oralie interactions are actually so fun! (Even though I feel bad for Oralie.) Sorry! Not really though. Thanks!**

**Human: I will! Thank you so much! **

**MeeIsFarrow101: Here! **

**The siren song: :)**

**FastReaderBadWriter: MUAHAHAHAHA Please don't die. **

**IStillHopeForSophex: Idk. Guess I need to try harder! Again, I have an unhealthy obsession with platonic sophex. Nice poem! Hopefully you update soon! Thank you!**

**BigBookBoi: Idk. THANK YOU. I WILL. (Also, I need my Shady Black Belt Protection Squad TM! NOW!)**

**ArrowOfTheMoonlark: Shady Black Belt Protection Squad TM! Okay, true, but before you kill me you should kill Shannon! But thank you for sparing me! We all love mallowmelt. Especially me. I'm dating mallowmelt. Don't you dare steal my foodfriend*! (*Like girlfriend/boyfriend, but food.)**

**Okay, guys, I know you want to find out what happens, but my idea sucks and is highly disappointing so please don't read it.**

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**Seriously, don't read it.**

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**(Now I realize I could use copy/paste.)**

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**You've destroyed all the trust in our relationship.**

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**Fine, go ahead.**

For a single, terrifying second- nothing happened. In that second, Sophie pulled out approximately 30983209483290 eyelashes and went through an emotional roller coaster, that made her think of Keefe's reaction: _Wow, Foster. Those are some _crazyyyy _feelings you're flinging at me. Chill, it's starting to make _me _that emotional. _He'd say that while fanning the air, of course, just like he always did. Just before Sophie started screaming and trying to break things and murder people- which Dex and Oralie would probably not appreciate- something _did _happen.

_Thank mallowmelt._

As the cache began glowing, Sophie stared at it like it was the most important thing in the universe- and in that moment, it was. So bright it was almost blinding, it was starting to hurt Sophie's eyes, but she didn't- couldn't- look away. Once her watery eyes began leaking from the brightness,there was a clicking sound from the crystal and the light dimmed.

"Is that all?" Dex said in a hushed voice. Both of their heads turned towards Oralie, who looked confused and a little nervous, but not as though she were regaining the memory of some deeply horrifying thing.

"It better not-" Sophie's voice cut off from the shock and excitement of seeing the vision before her.

From the cache, a scene was being projected on Dex's wall. Instantly, Sophie recognized it as the place she had been _wayyyyy _too many times- Tribunal Hall. All twelve councillors were present- though this was before Alina had replaced Kenric. Oralie's face was white as she stared at Kenric- after all, anyone with half a brain could tell that they were in love, and Oralie had been devastated by his loss. It had to be like seeing a ghost- and Sophie was glad she wasn't an empath, because there was _no _way she'd want to feel Councillor Not-her-mom's emotions right now. On the elevated platform for the accused sat a nervous-looking, tall, redheaded man. Sophie noticed there was no one in the audience, which was odd- most tribunal proceedings were open to the general public. But then again, Sophie didn't know why she was surprised. If it was something secret enough to be erased from the councillor's minds, it was definitely something all the other elves wouldn't be allowed to know.

_"Laron Wainright. Let's see, you are... 392 years old. Male. Talentless. You work at a bakery in Mysterium. No wife or children... is that all correct?" said Councillor Emory._

Oralie tore her gaze away from Kenric and watched the scene, brow furrowed. Like the memory was starting to come back, but she still couldn't _actually remember anything. _Like the forgotten secret was just out of reach, taunting her. "That name sounds so familiar..." she muttered.

It was the other way around for Sophie- she thought the man looked familiar, but was certain she had never heard the name before in her life. She couldn't place the memory either. Since she had a photographic memory, the most logical conclusion seemed that she was just thinking of someone else she'd seen before, someone who looked similar. Or maybe her head was crammed with so much useless information that it was getting harder to access the actually important memories.

_"You already know all that stuff," snapped the man- Laron Wainright. "Why the mallowmelt are you asking me?"_

_Emory sighed. "It's protocol. Now just answer the question."_

_"Why should I?"_

_Oralie- Past Oralie- sighed and gave the man a sympathetic look. "This is going to be a lot better for you if you just cooperate, okay? It's in your best self-interest."_

_Laron gave an eyeroll that both Keefe and Tam would be proud of. "_FINE. _Yes, that's all correct. Now, let's just get on with it, shall we?"_

_"Very well." Emory said. "Do you know why you are here? No, don't say 'because we called you here'- do you know what you have done that has made it necessary to put you on trial?"_

_"Stellarlune." Laron answered vaguely._

_"Can you explain what Stellarlune does?"_

_"Fine. You want the full explanation? Fine."_

_Laron cleared his throat and continued. "I was completely and totally sick of how elves treat the Talentless. Treated us like trash because we don't have your stupid useless tricks."_

_A councillor _(that Sophie vaguely recognized to be Councillor Noland) _opened his mouth to protest the insult to the councillor's abilities, but Bronte shushed him and motioned for Laron to continue._

_"And I hated every second of being considered 'lesser' than you morons. I knew that once I had kids, they'd be treated like that too. So I decided I wouldn't let that happen. After some research on alchemy and elvin abilities- because yes, I am actually intelligent, unlike you _talented _elves believe- I discovered a way to give myself an ability. One day a hooded woman, who refused to reveal her identity to me, asked me what I was doing. When I told her, she offered to help."_

"That hooded women was probably Keefe's mom." Dex whispered to Sophie. Sophie nodded in agreement.

_"Eventually, I had gathered enough information to give myself abilities. It was rather difficult, but I managed to get stellarlune- a necessary ingredient for the elixir I needed, composed of pure sunlight and starlight- and limbium, the other ingredient, was quite easy to obtain. Then all I had to do was mix them together and drink. Can you guess what that made me able to do? It _is _why you called me here, after all."_

_"It made you-" Councillor Kenric said._

Oralie gasped a little at his voice.

_"It gave you the ability to steal abilities from other elves." Bronte interrupted. Kenric shot him an annoyed look._

_"Aaaaand we have a winner!" Laron announced. "Though it _is _only temporary. Unfortunately."_

_Emory cleared his throat. "I'd like to know whether or not he was telling the truth about not knowing the hooded woman's identity. Oralie, would you do the honors?"_

_Oralie nodded and rose from her pink heart-shaped throne. She walked over to Laron and wrapped her hand around his wrist._

_"I have no idea who the woman was," Laron declared. "I only met with her once after her initial agreement to help. Naturally, she only wanted the information for her own gain."_

_Oralie payed attention to his emotions, but she couldn't feel anything, anything at all. It's like her power was gone..._

_Stolen._

_Laron grinned at her. "Hmm. Right now you're a bit confused and highly annoyed. Incredible, isn't it, how that works?"_

_"Return her Empathy." Kenric commanded in a deadly calm voice._

_Instantly, Oralie could feel an obnoxious self-satisfaction rising up in Laron... but now she could tell he wasn't lying._

_"He was telling the truth." Oralie said in a shaky tone. "About the hooded woman."_

_"Thank you, Oralie, can you come back to your seat? We're going to need to discuss this." Emory said. Oralie returned to her throne, sinking into the soft pink cushions._

_A moment later, Emory was opening up his thoughts for a telepathic conversation among the council._

What do you propose we do, exile him? _Bronte suggested._

No... I have a different idea. _Emory transmitted. Oralie noticed a concerning glint in his eyes. _We take away his memories, his skills... pretty much everything that makes him an elf, and we send him to live in the human world.

_The council was stunned silent. Oralie was the first one to react verbally (or telepathically). _Isn't that... that's such an awful thing to do to him! He did all this because he didn't have a special ability, can you imagine how he'll react when we take away _all _his power?

_The others thought about this._ Well... _Terik said. _He was taking away other elves' powers. It seems only fair we should take away his.

It's not just that, _Oralie added. _It's also... we'd be taking away his life span. And sending him to live in a dangerous, polluted area... is all that really a proportional punishment for what he did?

I think it is, _Noland replied. _Abilities are the single most important thing to elves. And also, he literally stole two of the Prime Sources for personal gain... that in itself is a terrible crime too. I say we go for it.

_Oralie continued arguing. _But... the guilt.

We have caches, _Bronte reasoned. _We'll just have our memories erased. It'll be a forgotten secret. What did you think the caches were used for?

_Before Oralie could respond, Emory transmitted _Aside from Councillor Oralie, does everybody else agree with this?

_All the other councillors, except for Kenric, gave their "yeses."_

That's a majority. _Emory announced. Out loud, he said to Laron "We have come to an agreement. What we're going to do is, we're going to take away everything about you that makes you an elf."_

"What!" _Laron shouted. "You can't-"_

_"Actually, we can. You'll be sent to live in a human city called London. The new name you'll be given is..." Emory paused for dramatic effect._

_"Ethan Benedict Wright._

**We're not going to talk about that.**

**Update coming soon! **

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**Also, review.**


	14. Chapter 13

**Hello! It's me again! :D**

**Omg you guys are going to haaaaaaaaaaaaate me after this chapter. Like, seriously. I doubt even my Shady Black Belt Protection Squad ™ can help me. I'm dead.**

**Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I need to start writing my will.**

**"Sorry, Mrs. Math Teacher, I could do my homework this week. I was attacked by a mob of angry fans."**

**This chapter is actually also really long... even without the lengthy(ish) A/N. **

**ArrowOfTheMoonlark: Oh! Um, thank you! If you mean the crowd, then, I'm glad you take such pleasure in my suffering XD. Good. My foodfriend and I will adopt, of course! Adios!**

**Mallowmelt: Thank you! Would you mind telling me where I can find said book nine fanfic?**

**Eva L: Yes! Hmm. The idea struck me at about 2 AM. Actually, I think yes, they are dead, but yes, they are also plot relevant. Could change though! Thank you!**

**IStillHopeForSophex: Thank you! I'm glad your idea isn't the same, or else either a) One of us is ****plagiarising, or b)**** I would be really creeped out. Never heard of Epic Zero, but... thanks again! **

**Thesirensong: Thank youuuuuuuuuuu! He is! Eek indeed!**

**Enjoy!**

The light forming the scene on Dex's wall faded to nothing within a few seconds. Sophie and Dex immediately turned to each other, ready to discuss at great length what they had just witnessed, but Oralie's eyes stayed fixed **(why did I type Fitz?) **on the spot where Kenric's projection had been long after it vanished. Sophie felt a twinge of pity for her- after all, if it had been Keefe's face projected onto the wall, Sophie could imagine the emotional roller coaster _she _would go through. Not that it was the same situation or anything- while Kenric and Oralie were star-crossed lovers, she and Keefe were just good friends. That didn't mean losing him (sort of) hurt any less, but-

She was getting off track.

Eventually, Oralie tore her eyes away from the "Bex, Lex, and Rex rule" graffiti and turned to Sophie and Dex. Silence continued for a few seconds, until Dex was the first to break it.

"So..."

Sophie thought that pretty much summed it up.

"It was the right decision to keep it in the caches," Oralie mumbled, more to herself than to Sophie and Dex. "Especially since he was killed a few years ago... essentially turning someone into a human, how awful. I can't believe the Council would make that decision."

"Actually..." Sophie and Dex said together. Even without using her telepathy, Sophie could tell that they were both thinking of the time Dex had made an ability-restricting circlet, without knowing that Sophie would be forced to wear it. Both knew that there wasn't much of a limit to awful things the Council could do. They were, of course, shocked, but it was more in the "huh, never would have seen that coming" sense rather than "WHAAAT!? I can't believe it! My world has been flipped upside-down by this knowledge!"

"Anyway," Oralie said in a louder voice, evidently not really wanting to get into all the terrible things the Council had done. "I guess we know what stellarlune does."

"Oh mallowmelt... Keefe with the ability to steal abilities..." Dex groaned. He didn't need to elaborate further. Sophie's vivid imagination gave her an image of Keefe taking Fitz's telepathy and imitating his voice, going _Now_ I _can be your cognate, Foster! Shall we go stare into each other's eyes? Start dating, perhaps?_ Insert wink. Then when Sophie turned bright red, he would laugh and say _I'm just kidding about that last part, Foster._ With a devious look in his eye, he would add _Or am I?_ She would roll her eyes and demand that he would return Fitz's telepathy. _Sigh... Anything for you, Miss Foster._ Then he would go on to take Tam's Shade powers and do terrible imitations of Bangs Boy. Or Sir Salty Shadows, or whatever they were calling him now.

A throat clear from Dex interrupted Sophie's semi-wistful vision of Keefe, so vivid it was almost like he was standing there... "Did you hear my question, Sophie?"

Bright pink, Sophie hesitated. "Um..."

"Did you catch anything that could help him wake up?" Dex repeated, with an astonishing amount of patience... and, Sophie realized, a teasing smirk on his face. Okay, his patience wasn't so astonishing anymore. _But it wasn't like- never mind._

Sophie's spirits fell like Glitter Butt threw her into a pile of sparkling feces. "No," she admitted, looking down at her feet. With no great revelation resulting from the stellarlune, they were no better off than they were before- except now, the one hope she had been holding onto was brutally crushed. Eyelash destruction, commence.

"Hey." Dex nudged her with his shoulder. "We'll find a way to wake him up. I promise. Maybe Elwin and Livvy will force feed him the right medicine, maybe Ro's death threats will end up working, maybe we need to bring gulons into the Healing Center, maybe I'll make something foul-smelling enough that it'll wake him up, maybe he'll just wake up on his own. Yeah, we're no better off than we were before I opened the cache- but we're no worse off, either. So don't go turn into a zombie, okay?"

Sophie gave him a shrug and a halfhearted "okay," but the pep talk did help a little. And even though Dex wasn't an empath or a telepath, he _was _her best friend, and evidently that was enough for him to be able to tell she was feeling a bit better.

Dropping the topic, Sophie turned to Oralie and said "Are we going to tell the rest of the Council?"

Oralie thought it over. "I think... we'd better not. Guilt is less of a risk for me because I voted no and can't be held responsible for what happened to Laron-slash-Ethan, but for the others, especially Emery, guilt might be more of a risk."

Sophie shrugged. "Okay. I don't really care either way, so... okay. Is that all?"

Oralie and Dex both nodded. Oralie's Empathy (or maybe common sense) seemed to get the message and left. Almost immediately after the door closed behind her, Dex asked hesitantly "Is she your mom?"

"No." Sophie answered. "She's a DNA donor. Edaline is my mom, and so is my human mother, but having Oralie's DNA in my body does not make her my mom. Also, you can't tell anyone."

"Wasn't planning to."

Sophie smiled. No "Yay! Now you can sign up for the match! Wait, what do you mean, you're not going to ruin Oralie's life so you can support a messed-up system just to be with me, which shouldn't even be a requirement for our relationship? I'M DUMPING YOU!"

(Hmm. If she did still like Fitz, though she still wasn't entirely convinced, they were going to have to work out some issues/lingering resentment. But maybe she should figure out whether or not she still liked him first. Also, off topic.)

Sophie grinned. "Great. Now I'd better get home... I kinda just ran before Sandor could come with me. So, I'll be grounded for the next 02934832948329 years. See ya!"

Dex waved as Sophie leapt away.

Miraculously, Sophie got off with nothing more than a three-hour lecture (okay, so, maybe not a miracle, but... at least she wasn't grounded). Sandor and Grady told her that the only reason they were being lenient was because they knew she was at Dex's house and Lovise was there. Next time, they told her, she'd be grounded for thousands of years no matter what. Edaline just offered a smile and a "Glad you're okay. Please don't do that again."

The next day, Sophie went to visit Keefe at the Healing Center, yet again. It was different (and even more depressing) now that her hopes metaphorically stored in Oralie's cache were gone. When she arrived at the door, Sophie encountered a Linh Song standing guard.

"Tam's reading, like, a ten page apology speech to Keefe." Linh informed her. "Don't tell him I told you. You can wait with me until he's done, it shouldn't be long."

The two girls talked for a little bit while they waited. Linh told Sophie that she and Marella had recently come out to Marella's parents, who took it well, and did not tell Linh's parents, who most definitely would not take it well. She added that Tam thought they _should _tell Quan and Mai Song just to annoy the heck out of them. Sophie noted that Tam's advice sounded a lot like something Keefe would say, and Linh agreed that the two boys were _way _more similar than they thought. With a glance at the door, Linh wondered if Tam and Keefe would be closer when Keefe woke up. Sophie corrected the "when" to "if." Offering no response, Linh simply squeezed Sophie's hand comfortingly.

A few seconds later, Tam came out the door. He said "Hi" to Sophie, and she greeted him back. With nothing else really to say, Tam left with Linh and Sophie went in the visit Keefe.

With a sigh, Sophie sat down and stared at Keefe's unconscious form. _Weeks and weeks have passed, and still... nothing._ _Even the stellarlune lead turned out to be nothing. He's still asleep, _Sophie thought with a sigh. And despite Dex's instructions, Sophie could feel herself slowly turning back into a zombie. What's worse was, the only person who could get her out of zombie mode last time was the one in a coma. So it seemed like the only way she would ever feel better was if Keefe woke up.

But that was becoming increasingly less likely.

To give herself something to do other than reflect on her miserable life, Sophie stretched her mind out to Keefe so she could check on his dreams. He was dreaming of gold-flecked brown eyes Sophie recognized as her own._ But why would Keefe be dreaming about my eyes? _Sophie wondered. She shook that thought away.

_Keefe? _She transmitted. _Can you hear me?_

_Go away... I'm trying to sleep. _Keefe's mind mumbled.

Sophie sat up in shock, feeling more alive than she had in weeks. _Keefe?_

_I'm tired... _Keefe thought.

_I know you are, _Sophie responded. _But can you please try to wake up? You need to wake up._

_Mmm... five more minutes? _Keefe begged. Sophie wondered if this was normally the first thing he said when he woke up. Knowing Keefe, it was entirely possible. He really did _not _seem like a morning person.

_No. Wake up now._

With a melodramatic groan, Keefe's eyes started to open at a painfully slow pace. As Sophie's eyes fell upon that beautiful shade of ice blue she thought she'd never see again, her heart fluttered.

"Keefe!" Nearly knocking him over, Sophie flung her arms around him and strangle hugged. "Thank goodness you're okay! Oh my mallowmelt I was so worried! It's been weeks- I though you might not wake up! These past few weeks I've practically become a zombie! Anyway, we have so much to catch you up on and- oh my mallowmelt, Keefe, you're okay!" Sophie's cheeks starting warming when she realized she was idiotically rambling, but even that wasn't enough to lower her soaring spirits.

Awkwardly, Keefe patted her back and gently pulled out of the hug. Sophie bit her lip- she wanted to hold on to him forever. Maybe he was in pain? Maybe he wanted to breathe? Maybe he just didn't want to hug her...? Without her even being aware, her hand flew to her eyelashes and pulled.

Keefe cleared his throat. "Um... well, thank you for your concern... I'm glad I mean so much to you." He gave her a half smile, and Sophie braced herself for what would come next. "But, um, the thing is... ugh, I don't know how to say this..." But nothing would have prepared Sophie for the words that came out of Keefe's mouth. "I just can't seem to remember who you are."

**HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA- *Hysterical laughter turns to sobs* I'm sorrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy... you probably hate me and you have every right to... HOW COULD I DO THAT TO KEEEEEEFE! (Why do I do this to myself? Oh, I know. It's because I'm an evil author MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA- *Laughter becomes sobs again***

**Please review!**


	15. Chapter 14

**Seriously, guys? Seriously? Ninety nine reviews? (I mean, thank you, but...) You really couldn't have given me ONE MORE FREAKING REVIEW!? Do you know what torture it is to stare at the screen, day after day, just waiting for that aggravatingly close number to go up by ONE and it DOESN'T!? That last chapter had 47 views and 8 reviews- Would it have KILLED the other 39 of you to give me one hundred?**

**Crowd: Yes.**

**Me: Oh shut up.**

**Anyway, THIS chapter I intend to get to 100. Whoever reviews first (and is my 100th) will get next chapter dedicated to them...**

**And a special sneak peak!**

**On that note, let me respond to my EIGHT (grumbles) reviews!**

**Eva L: Thank you, thank you. Please do not throttle me. I'm kind of sorry, but not really. Five days is soon, right? Thanks!**

**Thesirensong: You shouldn't have. It totally does! (Hmm. Thanks a lot for discovering my plot holes. Either his memories remained intact right up until he woke up, or they were slowly deteriorating during his coma, and towards the very end, Sophie's eyes were on of the few memories he held on to. HASKDJFDSK.) Thank you!**

**Mallowmelt: Thank you! I will read it when I have time!**

**FastReaderBadWriter: O.o I'm not sorry, but please don't kill me. Thanks!**

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**IStillHopeForSophex: Hmm. I guess I need to try harder then! I wasn't able to research, because mY cOpY oF LeGaCy WaS sToLeN! ! ! ! ! ! ! But anyway, thanks!**

**FlowerGirl15: Hmm. I should apologize, but it wouldn't be sincere. I WILL NEVER STOP! Also, thanks.**

**Enjoy! (That struggle when you know you should proofread but you really don't want to. XD)**

At first Sophie was convinced it was just a prank Keefe was pulling, so she gave him a disapproving look and informed him that now was _really _not the time. Keefe shook his head and insisted that he really wished he knew, but he just couldn't remember.

"You really don't remember?" Sophie asked, her voice meek as she felt tears filling her eyes. "You don't remember me? Sophie... though you usually called me Foster. And a whole lot of other stupid nicknames like Girl-Who-Dropped-Bronte-On-His-Grumpy-Butt. It was honestly really annoying... but that was your goal. Teasing me was your favorite activity. Remember?"

Keefe shook his head. "Look, Sophie... or Foster... Or Girl-Who-Dropped-Bronte-On-His-Grumpy-Butt... or whatever you want me to call you... Think I'll go with Foster. Foster, I'm really sorry, but I just don't..."

"What about Fitz?" Sophie asked, voice rising in desperation. "Fitz, you called him Wonderboy? Or Dex the Dexinator? Biana? Linh? Tam- Bangs Boy? Silveny AKA Glitter Butt? Mr. Forkle? Ro? Bo? The Ballad Of Bo And Ro? E. L- E. L. F-fudges? Remember? Keefe, p- please remember! Keefe, t-tell me y-you remember! Please, K-Keefe..." Tears started streaming down Sophie's face as she screamed and pleaded with him, as though that would change anything.

Blue breezes slowly starting floating through Sophie's head. _Shh... it's okay. Breathe. It's okay._

With tremendous effort, and with the help of the ice-blue waves from Keefe, Sophie managed to stop her tears. Still sniffling miserably, something clicked in Sophie's mind- Keefe wasn't even _close _to holding her hands. He couldn't be manipulating her emotions like that- it wasn't possible! Not if he wasn't enhanced. Or maybe the stellarlune made it so his empathy was like he was _always _enhanced? Sophie opened her mouth to ask him, but instead of the question, only sobs came out. She hugged her knees as she started crying again.

As calming ice-blue breezes kept coming, Sophie could feel Keefe rubbing her back. Even though she wasn't an empath, she could definitely sense the awkwardness Keefe had. Grateful he would try to comfort her without even knowing her, Sophie whispered "Th-thank you."

"No problem, Foster."

The sweet moment was interrupted by the door being forcefully opened. "Lord Funkyhair is awake?" exclaimed a voice Sophie recognized as Ro's- though the nickname also kind of gave it away. "Hate to admit it, but I kind of missed having him around. You know, he's kind of entertaining. Ooh, and look at this! Is the Keefoster ship _finally _sailing? We should throw a party! WHOO! DOWN WITH FITZPHIE, TEAM FOSTER-KEEFE SHALL RULE!"

"What's... the Keefoster ship?" Keefe asked softly, as though trying not to upset Sophie with his question. It didn't work. For all the jokes he made about ships, even though it annoyed Sophie to no end- how could he not remember them?

Ro blinked. "Funkyhair, you're kidding. The Keefoster ship is only-"

"He doesn't remember." Sophie interrupted. Her voice was hollow. "He doesn't remember anything."

"Oh." It seemed to take a second to register. "Oh. Like, he doesn't remember _anything? _Like, not me? Or even you?" When Sophie nodded, Ro sighed. "That does not bode well for my OTP."

Glaring, Sophie snapped "Yeah, because that's all you care about. Your stupid _ship _with me and Keefe. Honestly. Now is _not _the time."

"You know, Sophie, I'm kind of like your boy Funkyhair here, at least in that respect. I make jokes to deal with the general suckiness of life. That's just how I deal. But it doesn't mean I don't care." Ro lowered her voice, looking around as though worried someone might overhear. "I'll never repeat this, and if you tell anyone I said this I'll deny it forcefully, but... I actually do care about Keefe. You know. A little."

"Um, I'm right here." Keefe pointed out. "And Ms. Fangirling Ogre Bodyguard Lady? Once I remember who the mallowmelt you are, I am _definitely _using that little piece of information against you."

For the first time since Keefe informed her of his memory loss, the hint of a smile flitted across Sophie's face- he may not remember anything, but at least his personality didn't change much.

"Oh, looks like Foster approves of my plans for blackmail." Keefe added. Sophie's grin got wider- that was such a _Keefe _thing to say.

"Who's blackmailing who?" asked Elwin, walking into the Healing Center. "Or should I pretend I didn't hear that? Oh- Keefe, you're awake! How are you?"

"Amnesic, but otherwise perfectly well, thank you." Keefe answered.

"Well, if there's nothing physically wrong with you, I guess my job is done. You're free to go home. And don't worry, I'm sure Sophie's Moonlark powers will get you your memories back in no time.

Sophie aggressively attacked her eyelashes. _"Stop putting all the pressure on me!"_

Keefe nudged her. "It's okay. Even if you can't get my memories back with your Moonlark powers, whatever the mallowmelt those are, I'm sure we'll find a way. Maybe if we go to my house some memories will trigger?"

"I guess." Sophie replied shakily. "It's worth a try."

"To the Waves Of Wimpiness!" Ro declared, but it seemed like her heart wasn't really in the joke.

Keefe found a home crystal still around his neck and held it up to the light. The three of them joined hands, and as Elwin waved goodbye they leaped to the Waves Of Wimpi- Sorry, _Shores Of Solace._

Keefe rang the bell, and after an obnoxiously long wait, Lord Sassius- _Cassius- _opened the door. "Keefe! This is a surprise. You're awake from your... coma?"

"Really?" Sophie said, voice suddenly laced with venom. "You knew he was asleep? I wasn't aware. Based on the number of times you visited him in the Healing Center, I'd say you forgot about his very existence." Sophie took a deep, raggedy breath, trying not to lose control of her emotions and start inflicting- though honestly, Cassius probably deserved it.

Keefe tilted his head to the side. "Hmm. I don't recognize you, but I would say we're probably related. And I get the feeling I really don't like you, you know?"

Lord Cassius glared at Keefe. "Will you stop it with your stupid pranks? Ungrateful child."

"Correction: I _definitely _don't like you." Keefe corrected.

"It's not a prank." Sophie interrupted before the two Sencens could murder each other- because to be honest, that's kind of likely. "He's actually lost his memory. We were hoping that being at the Waves of- um, Shores of Solace- would help trigger Keefe's memories. And you know, you could be a _little _happy he's awake, and a _little _disappointed he forgot everything."

Cassius sighed and rubbed his temples. "You do remember what I told you about love, Miss Foster?"

"Yes." Sophie snarled, anger rising. "I also remember thinking it's absolutely stupid. And that you're an awful person for believing it."

Keefe fanned the air. "Wow. I have no idea what you two are talking about, but I can feel some _serious _anger vibes from Miss F. Like, oh my _mallowmelt _that's intense. I'm totally rooting for Foster, by the way."

Cassius lifted an eyebrow. "You're _sure _he lost his memory?"

"He lost his memory, not his personality. Sorry to disappoint." Sophie snapped- but her anger at Cassius was easing just a little, and her mood was improving- the more Keefe seemed like himself, the more likely it was that he would regain his memories.

Keefe grinned a little, evidently happy that Sophie was happier. "Well, time to live with Lord Pretentious and Ms. Fangirling Ogre Bodyguard Lady, and hope my memories come back," he announced. Keefe turned to face Sophie and extended a hand. "Sophie Foster, it was a pleasure re-meeting you."

Sophie knew he expected a handshake- but she couldn't help but hug him. Keefe's eyebrows lifted in surprise, but he didn't push her off. Only after Lord Cassius cleared his throat and Ro said something that sounded oddly like "Asdfghjkl!" did they separate.

"Bye, Keefe." Sophie said quietly, holding up her crystal.

"See you soon, Foster!" Keefe called, waving as she glittered away.

**Hehe. You still hate me, I expect. As- as you should *resumes crying***

**But hopefully that chapter was okay? I added some angst- b-but ALSO SOME FLUFF! And RO! Ro made it infinitely better, right? Right? RIGHT?**

**Anywayyyyyy...**

** I am SUPER excited for next chapter. And the one after is even better!**

**I'm also quite excited to make it to 100. Remember, if you're my 100th, you get a special surprise, so be sure to review!**


	16. Chapter 15

**AHHH! 100 REVIEWS! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCHHHHHHHHH! This chapter is dedicated to FastReaderBadWriter, my 100th. MidnightBunnyy gets a special mention for being number 101!**

**FlowerGirl15: AHH YES RO! Um. Hmm. Yeah... right... I'm sorry, but RO WILL NEVER LEAVE! I LOVE RO TOO! Thanks!**

**MeeIsFarrow101: Yeah. But the chapter I previewed is coming up soon anyway, so, no huge loss! Thank you so much! ! ! ! ! !**

**FastReaderBadWriter: AHH 100TH THANK YOUUUUUUUUU! I PM'd you in case you didn't see!**

**Let's see how the crowd's doing!**

**Crowd: DON'T THINK WE'VE FORGIVEN YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO KEEFE!**

**Me: Oh... oh my mallowmelt! That means you're attached to my version of the characters! You actually like this!**

**Crowd: NONONONONONONONONO ANYTHING BUT THAT! *Runs away***

**Me: Welp, they're gone. Hope you enjoy!**

Sophie's sulking, zombie-mode-ing, and general "reacting" to Keefe's memory loss the next day was interrupted several times. First it was Grady and Edaline coming to cheer her up. Then Edaline again with mallowmelt. Finally, Fitz came and told her he'd heard the news from Alden, who heard it from Grady.

"How are you doing?" Fitz said gently.

"How do you think I'm doing?" Sophie muttered.

"Fair point." Fitz answered. Sitting down next to Sophie on her bed, he wrapped a (probably supposed to be) comforting arm around her shoulders and asked "Do you think we'll be able to get his memories back?"

Sophie sighed. "I don't know, Fitz. We already know the Neverseen, Gisela especially, are _experts _are washing memories. We figured that out with-" Thinking better of her initial idea to say _Alvar, _Sophie backtracked. "Never mind. And, um, Keefe's other memories were shattered, not just washed, so it might be the same this time. For all we know, this was part of the Neverseen's plan- and their plans almost always work."

"That's true..." Fitz conceded, "But-"

"If you say 'we're Cognates', I may strangle you."

"Fair. How about this?" Fitz cleared his throat. "Sophie, you're the Moonlark. _The _most powerful elf alive. You've done the impossible, like, what? Fifty different times already? You can do _anything _you put your mind to. Remember when my dad's mind was broken? You managed to heal him. I have no doubt that you can do this too."

The determination in his teal eyes was contagious, so Sophie stood up, shrugged, and said "It's worth a try. Come on, let's go the Wa- Shores of Solace."

"Yeah, that's the right attitude!" Fitz cheered. Standing up too, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him to the Leapmaster 500. "Shores of Solace!"

They reappeared at the familiar beach house. Keefe was on the swing, staring out at the waves.

"Hi," Sophie said quietly.

"Foster! Back so soon? Seems like someone missed me," Keefe smirked. "Who's the guy next to you?"

"Fitz," Sophie answered.

"Wonderboy?" Keefe remembered.

Fitz made an indignant noise and Sophie chuckled. "Yeah. That Fitz."

"So, besides missing me desperately, what brings the two of you here?"

"We're going to try to trigger your memories," Fitz muttered.

"Ooh, fun! So how does this work?"

"We're basically just going to transmit important words into your mind and see if they trigger anything."

Keefe gave them both a thumbs up. "Cool. Ready?"

"Ready." Fitz said. Both boys looked at Sophie.

She swallowed and resisted the urge to tug at an eyelash.

"Ready."

Sophie willed her heart not to flutter- _she and Fitz broke up!- _as their hands and cognate rings connected. Together, they entered Keefe's memory.

_Black Swan! _Sophie transmitted. Nothing.

_Ro! _Fitz tried. A memory of "Ms. Fangirling Ogre Bodyguard Lady" from the previous day appeared, but nothing from before Keefe lost his memory.

_Um, Neverseen! _Their symbol, but no specific memories. Still... "We're getting _somewhere," _Sophie muttered.

_Gisela!_ Nothing. Sophie muttered some words she probably wasn't supposed to say. Just when she started to be optimistic...

_Legacy!_ Sophie thought excitedly. A million Lady Gisela's surrounded them and started saying _"-You need to fulfill your legacy, Keefe-", "-This is your Legacy-", "-Part of your Legacy-", "-Legacy-", "-Legacy-", "-Legacy-"_

"Creepy," Keefe muttered. Sophie agreed. Yes, she definitely was a little creeped out by this- but snippets of memories were returning. That was _definitely _good. These things they were transmitting triggered small memories- maybe they'd be able to guess that one word that makes everything click into place.

_Stellarlune. Shadowflux. _Fitz guessed. A full memory came back this time- the memory of when Tam first "did the thing." Full memories! Sophie's hopes were growing more and more. It was going to hurt a _lot_ if they were crushed.

_Lodestar! Nightfall! _Sophie thought desperately.

_Silveny! Alicorn!_

_Glitter Butt! _Sophie tried, knowing that would probably work better than Silveny's real name.

_Black Swan! _Fitz repeated.

"You tried that already," Keefe told him out loud.

"I did? Oh, Iggy fart!" Fitz grumbled.

_Swan song! _Sophie transmitted. It was a bit of a long shot, but while they were on Black Swan related stuff...

Sophie was searching her brain for something else to transmit, but anything even remotely resembling a train of thought vanished into a cloud of elation as a memory began to form around them. She was so elated that it took a second to register that the memory was tinted gold.

In the memory, it was in the middle of the night. Stars shined above them, and dark waves crashed below them. Flying against the whipping wind was Silveny, AKA Glitter Butt, with Sophie and Keefe riding on top of her. Instantly, Sophie recognized the memory as the time she and Keefe flew to a Black Swan hideout to "fix" Sophie's "malfunctioning" abilities. It did sort of make sense how "Swan Song" connected to this- after all, it was from the time they were just starting to figure things out about the organization. Sophie smiled a little bit at the memory of how aggravating the Black Swan was back then. They may have been secretive and controlling, but at least _they_ always knew what to do.

_"Gotta say, Glitter Butt, you are not as comfortable as I'd like you to be. We need to fatten you up next time so you're softer." Keefe joked. It relaxed him a little bit, but between Sophie's anxiety and his own worrying about her and Alden, it was hard to _really_ find humor in this._

_"Hopefully there won't be a next time." Sophie sighed._

_"Aw, what, you don't want to make this a regular thing?"_

_Sophie shook her head. "It's a little different for me, Keefe. There's kinda a lot riding on this."_

_"Like your health and your future and Alden's health and stuff?" As soon as the words left Keefe's mouth, he regretted them. Yes, cracking jokes did help- but that wasn't something to make light of. Judging my the waves of disappointment flowing off of Sophie, she agreed._

_"Which I _thought _you cared about- Alden at least." Slapping him probably would've stung less._

_For a few seconds, Keefe was quiet. That didn't normally happen, but Sophie's comment was hard to respond to. Finally, he leaned closer to her as he said "I know I crack a lot of jokes, Sophie, but... that's just because it's easier, you know? It's how I deal. But that doesn't mean I don't care. I do. A lot." He even surprised himself with the words. Normally, Keefe kept everything bottled up- he'd never opened up so much to another person before. And yet, opening up like this to Sophie just felt... right. She was one of the few people Keefe thought genuinely cared about him... and it was slowly dawning on him _just _how much he cared about her in return. Being an Empath clearly didn't make him any smarter about his own feelings... as was made obvious by the fact that he was only now realizing..._

_Keefe "Lord Hunkyhair Gulon Master Bad Boy Prankster" was falling in love. With a certain Mysterious Miss Foster._

In shock, Sophie pulled her mind out of Keefe's. The look of shock and jealousy on Fitz's face let her know that he saw the memory too. Keefe's face, however, didn't reveal anything- though that didn't _really _tell her much.

_He likes me. He likes me. He likes me. He likes me._

"Foster? I think my memories came back."

Sophie's mental panic and thought process of _He likes me, he likes me, he likes me, _was briefly interrupted long enough for pure joy to take its place. She flung her arms around Keefe and squealed "You remember! You're back! Keefe, oh my mallowmelt, thank goodness, Keefe!" she rambled thoughtlessly as she clung to him like a lifeline.

Keefe laughed as he squeezed back and assured her that air wasn't _really _necessary.

Fitz cleared his throat. A dark look passed over his face, but in a second it was gone and he was clapping Keefe on the back, saying "Glad you're okay, bro."

Now that the euphoria of having him back had begun to fade, the awkwardness/panic/he-likes-me-and-I-don't-know-how-to-react-ness was slowly starting to return.

_He likes me. He likes me. He likes me._

And then a new thought, one even more shocking and panic-worthy and I-don't-know-how-to-react-y entered her mind: _I think I might like him back._

**I'll let you guys react to that. Please review!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Happy Pi Day!**

**Or, happy 3.141592653589793238642463383 day!**

**Yes, I memorized 27 digits of Pi. I have no life, okay?**

**Today is/was also Albert Einstein's (AKA me!) birthday!**

**Anyway...**

**I actually love love LOVE this chapter! It's one of the few that even the crowd can't find fault with!**

**Crowd: AHH! You're right! It's actually decent! AHHH!**

**Okay, it probably does have flaws, but I like it!**

**Fos bos: OKAY. Also, love your name!**

**ArrowOfTheMoonlark: Lollllllllll. But it hasn't sailed _yet. _(Though, obviously, there will be a kiss before this story ends. Because I would die if I didn't write on.) Thank you!**

**Eva L: It didn't happen yet... Everyone is gonna be so disappointed and I feel really bad. I'M SO SORRYYYY. **

**Eva L (Ch. 15): Idk. But yes. (Also, Ro is technically a Mrs, but whatever.)**

**Elizabethornton: Thank you SO much! I'll tell you how I thought of them: A heck of a lot of plagiarism. I think the whole fandom actually has the Jensi's brother/Blur theory! Sokeefe IS life! I'm glad you like the pacing, because that's actually something I struggle with a lot: I'll make it go really slow until I decide "Ah crap I have to actually make something happen now." I actually have not yet decided on the non-Sokeefe-non-Marellinh ships yet, but thanks for your input! **

**FlowerGirl15: Oops. My bad? But thank you. I WILL NOT STOP! AHHHH YES!**

**Cary Swirls: I DID! EEE! Heh. Empathy. Heh. And YES! Thank you SO much- that's seriously a huge compliment! AHH! Yeah, totally. (You know you have problems when you creep yourself out...) But again, thank you so much!**

**Thesirensong: Eeee! Keefoster forever! It's okay! I hope you like your new house! And get wifi! AHH KEEFOSTER! Thank you! :)**

What was the socially acceptable thing to do when one of your best friends (kind of) confessed his love for you, and you think you might like him back but you also have lingering feelings for your ex AKA his best friend? That's a good question. Sophie's opinion was that there _was _no right answer. So what wrong answer did Sophie choose? Easy. She gave Keefe one last squeeze, said "Glad you're okay," and ran. Obvious choice.

What else could she do to make this even "better?" Oh, that's also easy! Hide the crazy situation from everyone else (_especially _Biana and Marella!) and avoid Keefe like the plague. For weeks. Only speak to him when absolutely necessary. Pretend everything was "fine." And meanwhile, try her best to decide between Fitz and Keefe. That part _really_ wasn't working. Some days she knew she wanted her EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNS back, but others she decided Keefe was the _obvious _choice. Her head emotions were confused, and when she tried to pay attention to her heart emotions things got even crazier! By now she was no longer oblivious to the frequently referenced "triangle," but she was clueless about her own feelings. And that was almost worse.

After a few days of The Great Foster Evasion (as Keefe had very Keefe-ly nicknamed it), Keefe started hailing her. She ignored her imparter whenever it buzzed. Then he started coming to Havenfield. As per Sophie's request, Edaline turned him away gently and Grady told him to "get lost" with great enthusiasm. Whenever he tried to corner her at Foxfire, Sophie would make an excuse and run for it. The Great Foster Evasion was, so far, a success.

Two weeks after The Incident (no, not the gulon type), Edaline let him in the house. Probably out of pity, and Sophie suspected Edaline's omniscient mom-powers knew what was going on. Whatever the reason, Keefe was now in her house. Coming up her stairs. Entering her bedroom. Sitting beside her on her bed. Placing his hand on her knee and looking at her, hurt in his gorgeous ice-blue eyes- wait, _gorgeous!? What? Focus, Sophie!_

"Foster... what's been up with you lately? Ever since I got my memory back, you've been avoiding me like crazy. I thought for sure you'd be _overjoyed _that I'm back, and my Empath skills are almost _never _wrong." Keefe tried to smirk at the joke, but the sadness didn't leave his voice... or his ice blue eyes. "I kinda miss you, you know?"

Sophie's mind was in panic mode. Like, alarms-blaring, light-flashing, full-on panic mode. But what Keefe said was true. It really wasn't fair to Keefe to keep avoiding him...

_Especially now that she knew he liked her. _

Just like that, the panic increased.

"Foster?" said Keefe. That alerted her to the fact that he was an Empath. He knew she was panicking. And... he knew that she was no longer oblivious to his crush. Probably also... the fact that she might like him back. Oh, and that she liked Fitz. Truly, her emotions were a mess. Sophie pitied the Empath... after all, he didn't _ask _for her crazy emotions to be flying at him all the time. Especially now, when they were not only overwhelming to her but to him as well.

"I... um... you..."

Keefe groaned. Running a hand through his disheveled blond hair (which somehow made it even more attractive- ugh! Stop thinking that, Sophie!), he said to her "I guess... the Great Foster Oblivion is over."

A small squeaking noise that was probably supposed to resemble a "yes" escaped Sophie's mouth. She cleared her throat. "I, um, yes. No longer oblivious." Her eyelashes itched really, _really _badly. It was impossible to resist pulling them out. Again and again and again.

Keefe opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. Rarely had Sophie seen him at loss for words like this. Eventually, he said "So, um... I take it that you don't like me back." Eyes focused on the floor, he ran his fingers through his hair again and muttered in the quietest, most heartbreaking voice ever "It's okay if you go back to Wonderboy instead. Not really surprising. Really, he's the obvious choice. Anyone would make the same decision. It's okay. Okay?"

"It's... I... I don't know who to choose." Sophie almost whispered, eyelashes going quickly. However awkward and terrifying it was to confess a crush, it was a million times worse admitting "Oh yeah, I kinda like you. Except I also kinda like your best friend."

"So... you like us both?" The words came out slowly, as if Keefe didn't believe them. It was broke Sophie's heart as she realized that for all his arrogant jokes and confident facade, Keefe really couldn't believe that anyone could actually like him, not after they'd seen the broken boy inside. Knowing this, Sophie wanted to give him a hug and assure him that he was definitely deserving of her love... but she still couldn't make up her mind.

"You're the Empath. You tell me."

Keefe gently took Sophie's hand away from her eyelid and held it. "Your heart is... very very confused."

Sophie took her hand out of his and back to removing her eyelashes. "So is my head."

Keefe nodded slowly. Again, he seemed at loss for words. Finally, he looked Sophie straight in the eyes and took both of her hands in his. "I'll wait, Sophie, okay? I'll wait for you to make your decision no matter how long it takes." Giving her the saddest smile in the history of sad smiles, he added "And if you choose Fitz... I'll just have to live with that." Swallowing hard, Keefe squeezed Sophie's hands tighter and said "All I want is for you to be happy, okay? That is the. Most. Important. Thing. And if you decide to be happy with me... I'd be overjoyed. But if not, as long as you're happy, I'm happy. Whoever you choose, I'll respect your decision. Because your happiness is so much more important than mine."

Sophie's heart melted and shattered at the same time. There seemed to be no right way to respond to that, so Sophie just wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. Keefe gave her a quick squeeze before letting go.

"Can we- can we still be friends?" Keefe asked softly. Even if it weren't for the pleading look in his eyes, Sophie would've said yes.

Keefe gave her another smile. This one was sad too- but also a little happy. "Praise all things sparkly for that."

"Of course."

With nothing left to say, Keefe got up from where he was sitting on Sophie's bed and started to make his way towards the door. It was half open when Sophie managed to find her voice again and say "Keefe, I'm really sorry."

With no hint of sarcasm or resentment in his voice, Keefe answered "It's okay, Foster. Really. I know that you can't decide your feelings. Trust the Empath on this." A half smile reappeared on his lips. "It's okay, Sophie."

"Okay." Sophie whispered.

"Okay." Keefe repeated. Before Sophie could say something back, Keefe was gone, gently closing the door behind him.

"So, how'd things go with your girl?" Ro's loud, excited voice demanded from outside Sophie's door.

Sophie picked Ella up from on her bed and squeezed tightly as Keefe's breaking voice said "She's not my girl."

***Inhales***

**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

**Okay. Okay. I'm okay now.**

**Why do I do this to myself?**

**Anyway...**

**Whoo! Ten favorites! And 4,000 views! Thank you guys so much!**

**My school closed for two (plus) weeks because of the coronavirus, so that's great. Maybe it means more updates though!**

**Ugggggghhhhhhhhhhh I just realized I have to start writing these again. *Sigh.* It was so great just posting the rewritten chapters. Ugh.**

**Anyway, please review!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Wow! I actually updated within, like, a few days! The wonders boredom/corona break does to me!**

**But yeah, you get an update! Nothing super special happens in this chapter, and definitely not enough Sokeefe- it's sort of a mix between fluff/filler stuff and actual plot stuff, but more fluff, and-**

**You know what, I'm not going to spoil this chapter for you.**

**Crowd- Please do! Then I won't actually have to _read _it!**

**Me- *Sticks tongue out***

**Crowd- Very mature.**

**Oh yeah! 5,000 views! Thanks!**

**RamenG: Okay! Agreed, thank you!**

**Eva L: Thank you so much! Ahhhh! As much as I would love it to be otherwise, that is true. Only problem is, I've never been in a love triangle so I have no idea how to resolve one realistically. Honestly, I started tearing up while writing it- curse myself! I will. :)**

**Mallowmelt: Thanks for reviewing! PI NERDS UNITE!**

**Percabeth Keeper: YES I DID. Oh my mallowmelt- really? I though you were super hardcore Sophitz! Did I seriously start changing your mind? Thank you so much, I will!**

**FlowerGirl15: (I teared up writing it, XD.) I can't even- AHH THANK YOU! **

**FastReaderBadWriter: Idk. Practice? My writing actually used to be the cringiest thing alive, so...**

**IStillHopeForSophex: I prewrote chapters because they were the interesting ones and I was too lazy to write what I was actually supposed to write. Thanks!**

"Hi, Foster! Guess what: You don't have to sit next to boring old Wonderboy, instead, you get to sit with the Keefster!" Keefe said, sliding next to Sophie's table at lunch. To an outsider, this would look exactly like it did every day; Keefe shoving Wonderboy out of the way so he could sit next to Sophie and making a joke, casually running his fingers through his Hair. But the outsider would have missed the sad, pleading look in his ice-blue eyes, the tentative smile he gave Sophie asking "It's okay if I sit next to you, right? _We're _okay... right?"

"Hello, Keefe. Thank you from saving me from boring old Wonderboy." Sophie replied, grinning to let Keefe know that she was going to _try _to ease the awkwardness.

"Hey!" Fitz protested. He had recovered from Keefe's shove and was now sitting next to Deck- Deck? No, Dex. My bad.

"They're right, you know." Dex shrugged, not even looking up from his... Sophie didn't know exactly what was on his plate... nor did she want to. "You _are _boring. And old. And... Wonderboyish."

"Ooh, are we insulting Fitzypoo?" Biana, who was on Dex's other side, squealed. "I _love _insulting Fitzypoo!"

"It's so fun, isn't it?" Marella sighed. "And easy."

Fitz glared at all of them, but they were too busy laughing to notice. "I thought you guys were supposed to be my friend!"

"No," Keefe snickered. "The chandelier is your friend."

"Oh my mallowmelt!" Fitz exclaimed. "That was _one time!"_

"And it is one time that we will never let you forget." Biana added.

Keefe opened his mouth to say something else, but Linh cut him off. "Guys, give Fitz a break," she said.

Reluctantly, Marella sighed. "Anything for you, Linh. Even that." To everyone else, she gave them a Listen-to-my-girlfriend-or-I-will-burn-your-face-off look until they agreed.

"Oh! In all the Fitz-bashing, I almost forgot!" Dex exclaimed. "Sophie, Forkle told me to tell you that we have a meeting right after school."

"Did he say where?" Sophie asked, already dreading the stairs. _Oh mallowmelt, not the stairs, anything but the stairs._

"He told us to just show up at his office and he'd give us crystals. Some new hideout."

"Yay! Not the stairs!" cheered Biana, who evidently shared Sophie's fears.

"Oh, and there was also something about a new member joining?"

"Ooh, a new member?" said Glimmer, as the current newest.

"Wait, are you a member?" Keefe asked.

Glimmer nodded. "Yeah, I took the oath."

"So, how have your days been going?" Sophie asked, as an attempt to oblige her mom's orders for her to "act like a normal teenager." Sophie wasn't entirely sure what "normal" meant, but she was pretty sure that the question was something normal people would ask.

"Torture!" Keefe exclaimed. "Do you know how much school we missed? _Do you know how much make up work that is?"_

"Yes, Keefe, we all have to do it too." Fitz sighed.

"Yeah, but I was in a coma, so I missed even more than you!" Keefe argued in a melodramatic woe-is-me voice.

"At least you don't have to deal with Lady Cadence. Or Bronte." Sophie said. Bronte wasn't really being _so _bad, but inflicting was still not her favorite class.

"Yeah, but you don't have to take Empathy. It's like hours and hours of therapy, but your therapist hates you and would rather be anywhere else. That guy's, like, _ancient. _He was my dad's mentor-" Keefe made a face "-And is constantly comparing me to Lord Pretentious."

"You guys get to train in your abilities, though." Marella pointed out. "My last mentor was _Fintan._"

"Okay, yeah, you win." Sophie conceded. The lunch bell rang, and all nine of them went to their P.E. class. After some levitating (Which was actually fun,) _that _bell rang and they all headed to Magnate Leto's office.

"Ah, so many memories of this place." Keefe said wistfully as Dex knocked.

"Were you referring to the time you blew it up?" Fitz asked. "Or the hours and hours you spend in trouble here?"

"I was referring to the Great Gulon Incident," Keefe said, a mischievous smile flitting across his face. Everyone- that is, everyone who actually KNEW WHAT THE FREAKING THING _WAS, _laughed.

"Seriously, what _was-" _Sophie started, but before she could finish asking her burning question, the door swung open and Magnate Leto gestured for them to come in. Sophie sighed, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Keefe smirk at her.

Magnate Leto passed around pale pink leaping crystals. Once everyone had them, he ordered them to leap.

They arrived at a house that looked abandoned. Sophie's first thought was that it looked like a haunted house, but by then she had learned not to voice such thoughts. Mr. Forkle ordered them to go in, and even though Sophie didn't believe in ghosts, she was still hesitant to go into the house- honestly, she wouldn't be surprised to meet the Elvin version of a ghost or zombie. Also, the possibility that the house would collapse on them couldn't be ruled out.

"Nice place you got here," said Keefe, who had just walked into a spiderweb.

Biana shrieked. "What was that?"

"Just Sophie tripping!" reported Dex. "Everything's okay!"

Biana sighed. "Sorry, this place is just making me really jumpy."

Finally, the group arrived in a room. The room definitely looked like the newest place in the house- the walls and floors weren't rotting, the wall actually looked recently painted, and the couches were completely intact. Sophie sat down in one of them, and so did everyone else.

"Welcome to our new hideout." Mr. Forkle announced. "It's called _Kyknos_, the Greek word for _swan._ Greek is a human language, for those who don't know."

"Seriously, it's a lovely place," muttered Keefe, who now had spiderwebs covering his entire body- minus the Hair, of course, which Sophie was sure he had protected at all costs. Sophie couldn't help but think he still looked really hot-

_WHAT!? NO. Sophie Elizabeth Foster, stop thinking about boys and start thinking about important things!_

"Our first order of business: Sophie, Dex, I'm told you opened a cache with Oralie?"

Dex nodded, answering for Sophie. "We saw the tribunal of Ethan Benedict Wright, a former human and _former_ former elf. Apparently, he managed to steal a substance called _stellarlune- _which gave him the ability to steal talents from other elves. Stellarlune just so happens to be the same thing that put Keefe into a coma."

"So wait, I now have that ability?" Keefe said. "_Cool. _So, like, if I wanted, I could steal Fitzy's telepathy?"

"In theory, yes, but don't." Mr. Forkle answered. "We'll have to get you training. And when you figure out how to use it, _use it only on our enemies."_

"Fine," Keefe sighed. "You take the fun out of everything."

"Anything else?" Sophie asked.

"Dex, any luck on finding Axel?" Mr. Forkle asked.

"Not yet!" Dex said. "It will go right up to the top of my to-do list!"

"Good." Mr. Forkle said. "Now, it's time for you all to meet our new member."

**Yes, I stopped it there. Problem?**

**You know, for my first time writing in like a month, this isn't so bad! **

**Any theories on who the new member is? Click that review button to let me know!**

**Honestly, just review. I'm lonely. (And bored, because of corona virus.)**

**Please?**


	19. Chapter 18

**Did you miss me? Of course you did. I'm starting to go insane(r)- I redesigned each and every one of my book covers. Check them out on my profile page and let me know what you think!**

**ArrowOfTheMoonlark (Ch 18): Thank you! Uncle Wonderboy? Is that a Blood & Petals reference or am I going even crazier? I know! It's sad, but I'm trying to make their loooOOOOoooOOOOove realistic/slow burn (because slow burn is aggravating but amazing.) Plus, I have no idea how to realistically resolve a love triangle. Anyway... ugh yeah coronavirus is annoying. :)**

**ArrowOfTheMoonlark (Ch 17): I'm sorry! But the "I want you to be happy" paragraph... AHHHHH THAT BROKE MY HEART TO WRITE! Next chapter is much more lighthearted, as you already know. Thanks!**

**Eva L: Yay for Fitzbashing time! Yay for chandelitz! Whoo! You'll find out. YAY FOR SOKEEFE! Thanks!**

**Team fosterkeefe: Hello! Quarantine is boring. But I'm glad I've entertained you! Thanks! And... _maybe..._**

**Cary Swirls: XD Sure, Chandelier Head. sTaIrS aRe ToRtUrE! ! ! ! Poor Keefe... first his parents, then Sophie's semi-rejection, now homework... why can't I/Shannon give the poor guy a break? Because life isn't fair. Glad you don't hate me! *Failed hair flip* It's killing us all. Coronavirus will not be the death of me- humanity's reaction to coronavirus will be. Wait no longerrrrrrr!**

**Melanie29: Whoopsy? Thanks!**

**FastReaderBadWriter: Maybe... Thanks! Don't die!**

**Mallowmelt: Yes. But I won't tell you which one ;). I will :) :) :).**

**FlowerGirl15: I've only been off for a week and I'm already gOiNg CrAzY wItH bOrEdOm! ! ! IKRRRRRRR. Thank you! And it cracks me up too :).**

**I think the A/N's combined are longer than the actual chapter. But whatever.**

Sophie wasn't entirely sure who opened their mouth first, but pretty much everyone in the group said Jensi's name with shock filling their voice.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's Jensi. Congratulations- you figured it out!" Jensi said, grinning.

"I guess... I guess all my friends are part of the group now." Sophie said, already pulling the eyelashes. "You- you know this is... like... dangerous, right? Like, people almost die. And then some of us actually die. And it's just very fun over here, constantly worrying for the lives of everyone I care about and also almost dying every five minutes-"

"You know I may have actually tied your record for near death experiences, right?" Keefe smirked. "Wait- do we keep count?"

"Okay, so my life and my- um, my life and Keefe's life almost end every five minutes or so, and pretty much everyone else here has almost died at least once, so... I'm just making sure you know the risks. This isn't a game, you know. It's not some fun activity. It's not 'cool." It's life and death."

"I know." Jensi's voice may have been more serious than Sophie had heard it before. "My brother is in a jail cell as of right now- you think I don't know this is serious? This whole... for lack of a better word... thing has started screwing up my life already, so I think that once I'm involved, it's only fair that I should help, right? And I _probably _won't die... you guys have amazing luck, you know that, right? Like, honestly, if your luck was worse... Sophie would probably be dead by now, so would Keefe, most likely Biana, and actually, probably the entire world. I know there's a risk, but it's seriously not as bad as you're making it seem. The key word is _near-_death experiences."

"You have to admit he makes a point," Marella conceded.

"So, wait, did you, like... manifest?" Fitz asked.

"Actually, no. And we should probably stop kidding ourselves- I doubt it's ever going to happen."

"So how do you expect to-"

Jensi glared at Wonderboy. "I don't have a special ability, but my skills are actually better than most of yours. Well- probably not Sophie's, and probably not anyone who went to Exillium-"

"We all went to Exillium," Fitz argued.

"Yeah, for like, three days." Biana pointed out. "And we kind of sucked."

"Yeah, I meant those three," Jensi said, pointing at Tam, Linh, and Glimmer. "My point is, I'm good at skill stuff, and that's probably more useful than being Sophie's-" he put on a mockingly lovesick look. _"Cognate."_

Keefe snorted while Fitz glared.

"Plus, if this is a group trying to rid the elves of discrimination against the Talentless, I really don't think an effective way to do that is by discriminating against the Talentless."

Dex started a slow clap. Soon enough, the rest of the group joined in- Mr. Forkle included.

"He has a point," Sophie said when the applause died down. "We've been so caught up in the Neverseen stuff-"

"Which is kind of important," Tam pointed out.

"Right. Duh," Sophie agreed. "But we've been so caught up in the Neverseen stuff that we pretty much forgot about the Black Swan's _actual goals."_

"Wait, you have goals other than defeating the Neverseen?" Glimmer asked.

"That's my point!" Sophie exclaimed. "The Black Swan was created because elves are stupid and **judgemental**, and we wanted to make Elven society less stupid and judgy."

"I'm pretty sure those weren't our exact words," Mr. Forkle pointed out.

"Yeah, but they're _better _than our actual words," said Keefe.

"Sure. Okay, Miss Foster, you have a point. But for now, the meeting is dismissed."

As they began walking out of the house, Biana nudged Sophie- making sure that they were far behind the boys. The boys meaning Fitz and Keefe.

"So..." Biana started. "I hear you have a boy problem."

"I- what?" Sophie squawked.

"Well... I kind of heard and then deduced. So, right after you guys fixed Keefe's memory, Fitz came home- and like, he was super happy, but later he told me-"

Biana cleared her throat and adopted a whiny voice that in no way resembled Fitz's. Actually, now that she thought about it... but that wasn't important. "'_When we were in Keefe's memories, Sophie found the one of Keefe figuring out he liked her. So now she _knows. _And they're gonna start _dating. _Congratulations- _insert eye roll here- _your ship has sailed.' _But the ship has _not _sailed- you were ignoring Keefe, and then he went over to your house- I found that one out from Ro- and now you guys are acting normal_ish _but still kind of weird- definitely not how you'd be acting if you were dating! And, no offense, but you're very obvious about your crushes, so I could tell that you have at least _some _feelings for him. But I could also kind of tell that you still like my brother- which is gross- so you're in a _love triangle."_

"I guess?" Sophie said, still kind of in awe of Biana's deduction skills. "Did you seriously figure all that out?"

"Marella helped," Biana admitted.

"Still..."

"So, do you have any idea how to resolve said triangle?" Biana asked.

"No," Sophie admitted. "Do you?"

"I mean, I read a lot of cheesy romance stuff, but not really, no."

"Helpful," Sophie muttered."

"Well... you've already talked to Keefe, right?" Sophie nodded. "Try talking to Fitz. And the benefit to that one is, I'm just down the hall if it goes badly."

Sophie released a shaky breath. "Okay. Okay. I need to hail Mom and Dad, and then I'll come over to Everglen with you. And talk to Fitz. About my love triangle."

**Ergh, so that chapter was very... dialogue heavy. Blargh. I generally try to avoid that- my old writing was like 95% dialogue and it sucked. Hopefully this chapter did not suck.**

**Crowd: Um, sure. Keep telling yourself that.**

**Me: What the- now you guys are in the outros too!? **

**Anyway, yay for the fast update! And oooooh! Sophie's going to go talk to Fitz about the love triangle? How's that going to go?**

**No really. How is that going to go? I have no idea. HELP! **

**Seriously, I've never written a love triangle before. THIS IS HARD! If anybody has had experience writing a (good) love triangle, please PM me! **

***Starts playing "Does Anybody Have a Map"***

**Family: ARE YOU LISTENING TO DEAR EVAN HANSEN AGAIN!?**

**Me: Yes. I will be listening to Dear Evan Hansen _for forever._**

**Ugh, I've rambled long enough. PLEASE HELP ME WITH THE LOVE TRIANGLE! SERIOUSLY! **

**Btw, I WILL update before I figure this whole thing out- I was planning on dragging out the love triangle anyway, so...**

**Anyway, please review!**


	20. Chapter 19

**"That was fast." "That's what happens when it's corona time and you have nothing to do."**

**Still, a fast update! Wow!**

**Elizabethornton: Thanks! Biana knows what's going on. Biana knows all. :)**

**ArrowOfTheMoonlark: Hey! Blood and Petals is a Tiana fanfiction over on Wattpad by miyuthefangirl. We really are all going crazier. Slow burns, ARGH! I guess? This one's also got a lot of dialogue. Love triangles? I have nothing either. You won't wait long! Thanks! GREATER THAN SYMBOL - THREE!**

**Mallowmelt: Thanks! Yay Jensi! Oh my mallowmelt, I TOTALLY agree! Hopefully the Unlocked and book nine covers look cool- WITH DEX AND BIANA!**

**Avai: You'll see! :P**

**Cary Swirls: O.o That's long. It's okay though. Congratulations! Blame COVID-19 all you want. Yeah Jensi! And yeah, Mr. Forkle. That is pretty much a direct quote. YEAH WONDERBOY! A LARGE FANBASE HATES YOU, AS A MATTER OF FACT! Biana is all of us sometimes. I guess, yeah, thanks. You're more experienced then me- and they aren't stupid! So like a pro/con list? I can do that. And chemistry? Sokeefe chemistry is OFF THE CHARTS! And I guess I need to add some for Sophitz because as of right now, they have none. Yeah, this is long, but that's okay! Not super annoying! It helped a bunch! Thanks so much! :)**

**Time for the chapter! Or maybe... the crowd!**

**Crowd: A love triangle? Seriously? Could you get _any more _cliche and lame?**

**Me: Hey, it's Shannon's fault for making one! I'm just resolving it!**

**Okay, now it's time for the chapter! Enjoy!**

"Hi, Fitz." Sophie said weakly.

"Hey. What brings you here?" Fitz's teal eyes refused to meet her gaze, which was probably just as well. Being reminded of his beautiful teal eyes probably wasn't the best thing to do in a love triangle. Oh mallowmelt. Was Sophie _seriously _in a love triangle? Was she seriously becoming the annoying female lead character she swore never to be? Ugh. She better choose soon.

Or, of course, forget about the love triangle while they focused on the more pressing matter, meaning, the Neverseen.

And now she couldn't choose what course of action to take! Indecision! Ugh.

"Sophie?"

"Oh! Right!" Sophie let out an awkward laugh as she pulled at an eyelash. Her eyelash-free eyes remained focused on the floor as she told Fitz (or maybe Fitz's carpet... she wasn't sure) "We need to talk."

"Sophie. Those four words are probably the four most terrifying words in the Enlightened language. You couldn't have chosen a more... _friendly_ premise?"

_Ah, but the point of this talk is that we're _not _just friends, _said the voice in Sophie's head that reminded her suspiciously of Keefe.

"Sorry." Still, Sophie refused to look at Fitz. _That's a really nice teal carpet he has there!_

The Keefe-voice snorted and said _A teal carpet? Could this guy get any more vain?_

Again, Sophie ignored the Keefe voice. She needed to get that boy out of her head- oh mallowmelt, did she just call him "That boy"? No! She was turning into Grady!

(Speaking of which, Sophie wondered how Grady would react to the love triangle. She resolved not to tell him.)

"Um... so, I'm sure you're aware that the 'Great Foster Oblivion,' as Keefe dubbed it, has ended. You saw the memory too?" Sophie started. _Goodness, was that a speck of dust on Fitz's carpet?_

"Yes." Fitz's voice was sour. "You don't need my permission to date him, Sophie. You also don't need to give me a 'Even though I'm dating your best friend, you'll always hold a special place in my heart' speech. And, if you were wondering, I'm not going to flip out on you. Or whatever you came here for, you didn't need to."

_"We're not dating," _Sophie exclaimed. Why did everyone assume...

_Maybe because you and Keefe are meant to be?_

_Or maybe because Keefe was always the second choice, and everyone knows that you and Fitz broke up._

"SHUT UP!" Sophie yelled. Guiltily, she looked at Fitz for the first time. "Sorry. Not you. I was talking to myself."

Fitz nodded, though he was clearly weirded out. "Okay. I've done that. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Keefe and I aren't dating." Sophie repeated.

"Why not?" Fitz asked, raising a perfect eyebrow. _Oh my mallowmelt, STOP! _"I mean, as we 'recently' discovered, he likes you. And, well, you obviously like him. You probably liked him when we were dating."

"Well..." Sophie started. "Actually, I might've- but I wasn't aware of it yet. Anyway, you're right- I do like Keefe. But I also... still... kinda..." Her voice shrank so small that she doubted Fitz could hear it. "Like you too?"

Fitz snorted. "So, our lives have become a _love triangle?" _

Sophie nodded.

Fitz shook his head in amazement. "It's like we're in some sort of bad romance novel for teenagers. Probably written by a teenager, too." **(Fourth wall? What's that?)**

"Honestly, yeah," Sophie agreed, sighing. "Anyway. I just figured I should sort of... make you aware of the situation. Please don't challenge Keefe to a duel or anything. **(One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, niiiine!) **So, um, yeah. Guess that's it. Lovely talking to you."

"Yeah. You too," said Fitz, seemingly at loss for words that actually mean anything. "Um... take your time choosing, and, you know, if you eventually choose Keefe, than I respect your decision."

Sophie thanked him. "This won't change anything between us? Friendship-wise?"

Fitz gave her a movie star smile. "Nope."

"Great! Bye!" Sophie eagerly left the room and walked straight into Biana. **(Straight? I think not- oh wait, this isn't Sophiana.)**

"How'd it go?" Biana asked.

"Um... it seemed to go alright. He compared the love triangle situation to a bad romance novel."

"Is he wrong though?" Biana pointed out. Sophie groaned, but agreed.

"Anyway, I have to get home for dinner. Thanks for helping me with the love triangle!"

"Any time!" Biana grinned. "See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" Sophie called, before glittering away.

Once she arrived at Havenfield, Grady and Edaline greeted her. Grady inquired as to what exactly Sophie was doing at Havenfield. Sophie, stupidly, revealed that she was talking to Fitz. As she was Grady's fists clenching, she realized her mistake and protested that they were _just talking! _No way would she tell Grady about the love triangle she was in... especially once he realized that Keefe was involved! Sophie shuddered, imagining Grady's reaction to his daughter considering "That Boy." After a dinner during which Edaline attempted to make pleasant conversation and Grady grumbled about stupid boys trying to date his daughter (Maybe they knew more about the triangle than Sophie thought). After dinner, Sophie went up to her room. For about half an hour, she suffered through Elvin History homework, but gladly welcomed a call from Dex as a distraction.

"Hi!" Sophie greeted him.

"Sophie. You know how I'm trying to find members of the Neverseen? Like, for instance, their technopath, who just so happens to be in possession of the caches we so desperately want to take from the Neverseen."

"Oh my mallowmelt!" Sophie yelped. "Dex, you found him?"

"I think."

"I will be right over."

This time, Sophie remembered to tell Sandor where she was going. Of course, Sandor insisted on coming. Her bodyguard told Bo to tell Sophie's parents, and Bo grudgingly agreed- although obviously they didn't like each other, Sophie trusted that the ogre would obey his orders. Then, Sophie and Sandor leapt over to Rimeshire. A snowball was Sophie's greeting- right in the face.

"Lex!" Juline scolded. "Don't hit our guests with snowballs."

"Sorry," Lex muttered, looking sheepish. "I was aiming for Bex."

"You'll never get me!" Bex yelled, nailing Lex from behind the yeti statue serving as her hiding spot.

"Ow!" As the triplets bickered and snowballs flew, Sophie tried her best to avoid the Chaos as she made her way up to Dex's bedroom.

Dex noticed the snow on her face and muttered a comment about his siblings. Sophie laughed and took a seat next to him.

"So, you're saying you found Axel?" she started.

"I think, yeah."

"Tell me what you know."

"Well, obviously, there aren't a whole lot of Technopaths working for the council. Because, you know, Technopaths aren't really important."

Sophie nudged her best friend. "Hey, don't say that. You're really important."

Dex's dimples showed as he thanked her. "Anyway, out of those, I decided to start by ruling out all the girls, since Glimmer and Blur agree that Axel's a guy. Then I just sort of started... investigating the people I found. Out of these people, this one guy is the most likely candidate. He's really, really good with his ability, about the right age range, and his inventions specialize in the kind of stuff the Neverseen use. Apparently, he's been very interested in caches recently. And, of course, his registry feeds are completely messed up a lot of the time. They'd look normal to a Councillor, but I can tell when they've been hacked. Since I myself have hacked them many times."

"That's incredible," Sophie said. "You really did all that today?"

"I asked Glimmer and Blur about him earlier, but the research stuff was all today. I haven't done any of my homework, and I refused to come out of my room. Mom brought me dinner, since she understands best why I have to keep working."

"Wow," Sophie whispered. "Thank you. That's really incredible. So, should we go find the guy?"

Both elves' heads turned to their bodyguards. Sandor sighed and Lovise shrugged.

"I don't see why not," Lovise said finally.

"We're going to see a member of the Neverseen." Sandor argued.

"Yeah, one guy!" Dex added. "He doesn't even do any of the fighting- Technopaths don't do any of the fighting!"

"You can bring Bo and Nubiti for backup," Sophie said, reluctantly agreeing to use her goblin, dwarven, and ogre bodyguards. _Really, do I need _this _many?_

Sandor let out another long sigh. "Fine," he relented. "I'll tell your parents and then contact Bo and Nubiti. But when we show up at a random guy's door in the middle of the night, demanding to interrogate him, _you _do the talking."

**O.o Cliffy! This is also a pretty long chapter- over 1,500 on its own and over 1,900 with the A/N's! Not the longest, though- that remains at 2,222 (chapter five) (what a beautiful number). Anyway, hope you like it! I think the mix between nasty love triangle stuff and actually legitimate action is decent- though I think we'd all be fine without the triangle. Especially the Sophitz part of the triangle. Anyway, we'll see how the triangle stuff goes (I said "triangle" too many times, didn't I?), but I think I'm doing okay! Help would totally be welcomed though (hint hint hint).**

**LOsInG mY mInD fRoM qUaRaNtInE bUt YoU kNoW, iT's aLL gOoD!**

**Please vote on the somewhat dead-ish Iggy poll if you haven't already!**

**Also, please review!**


	21. Chapter 20

**Hello, hello! Chapter twenty already? Wow! You'd think actual action stuff would have happened by now... but no, this is almost as boring as Flashback! **

**(I'm kidding. Nothing is as boring as the Fitzphie sleepover. Except Geography class.)**

**But yeah. For the next few chapters, you will be seeing a lot of triangle-y stuff- but I'll try to include ****_some_**** action to balance it out. And only after the triangle is resolved can the ****_real _****plot stuff begin. Trust me, I've got it all planned out.**

**Speaking of planning, and triangles, I have planned out four conversations between Sophie and her suitors (two each). As of right now, they are mostly unedited dialogue. But here is a sneak peak for each one!**

**Keefe #1:** "Keefe! Come back! I-"

**Fitz #1:** Fitz paused, hesitant to continue his thought. "...Unless you're choosing me."

**Keefe #2:** "No matter how fabulous I look, Foster, you can't deny that I'm bad for you."

**Fitz #2: **"Here." Fitz very delicately touched his finger to the corner of Sophie's mouth and wiped [the frosting] away. His fingers lingered on her cheek.

**Like them? 'Course you do. I bet you can't wait to see them in context! **

**Crowd: To be honest, I don't give a sparkly alicorn feces.**

**Me: OH SHUT UP.**

**Anyway, how about we respond to reviews?**

**Sokeefe54355: Okay! We're all going crazy, but thanks!**

**Eva L: I KNOW RIGHT! ME TOO! Hopefully, yes. Ew, quarantine. And sanity? wHaT's SaNiTy!? Lol. Thanks! **

**Eva L: Oh my gosh. That was so beautiful. I am deeply impressed with your DEH reference skills. (Side note: DEH IS GLORIOUS!) But seriously, that was amazing. I'm screenshot-ing that review. Loved it! And thank you so much! Seriously, though, you SHOULD get an account! :)**

**KotlcForeverandever: Thank you so much! **

**ArrowOfTheMoonlark: Thank you! Yay cliffhanger! The fourth wall is the invisible barrier between a character and an audience. So "breaking the fourth wall" means making the character(s) aware that they are fictional or exist as part of a book/movie/play. i ThInK nOt! I KNOW! The love triangle is a bit aggravating, but sadly necessary... no matter how much I want Sophie to get over herself, kiss Keefe, and then move on with the plot. YEAH FITZ. LISTEN TO ARROWOFTHEMOONLARK. I kant spel iether. Ugh, quarantine. Yay, rainbow! Wow, this is pretty long. Anyway, adios!**

**Mallowmelt: :) Thanks! Eventually...**

**FlowerGirl15: Yes it is! Whoo! Welcome to the Sokeefe side, we have mallowmelt! Yeah Fitz, stop lying to her! We're all going insane here. **

**Cary Swirls: AHH! Long! Fourth wall? *Explosion in distance* It is no more. XD me too. And yay for Sophiana, and BIG YAY for straight puns! YEAH, FITZ. 1, 2, and 3 are all correct. YOUR LUNGS HURT! IS IT... cOrOnAvIrUs!? Nah, I'm kidding. 2,222 is great- and my friend LOVES the number 2 so I have to love it too- as well. I did add some conflict- as you may have discovered from the sneak peak lines. WHO THE PINEAPPLE! Love it. I think everyone know's I'm 100% Team Keefe, but whatever! I can't stand not planning everything- whenever I try to wing it, it's a MESS. FLUFFINESS! Yeah, this is pretty long! But that's okay! i'M tOtaLLy GoInG pSyChO tOo! Very subtle. Anyway, thanks for reviewing- and a HUGE thank you for all the help with the love triangle- I think I might actually be doing okay with it thanks to you! I'll dedicate a chapter to you at some point. :)**

**Thesirensong: Yeah! Thanks! It's okay- I'm half moving into a new house as well, so I understand the struggle! Ugh, quarantine. The key is e-books, audiobooks, or possibly Wattpad (another site similar to Fanfiction but it has original stories). Maybe you could also write some? And oh my gosh, totally! I never realized how much I needed that in my life until now! Songfic to ten duel commandments, maybe?**

**Wow, this A/N is looooooooooooong. Time for the chapter! Enjoy!**

Dex, Sophie, and their respective bodyguards stood at the entrance to Ravirral. Through an excessive amount of stalking, Dex had found the place where Axel (Hopefully also known as Jayden Hammers) lived and its leaping coordinates. "Wow," Dex breathed when they saw it. Sophie could understand why- it was a technopath's heaven, basically. The house had everything from a crazily well-designed security system (dang it!) to some mechanical arm holding a watering can and watering the flowers. (Side note: Why did an evil genius have a garden outside his house?) Sophie and Dex could only imagine the kind of crazy/awesome (depending on who you asked) gadgets inside. "Once the council kicks him out and puts him in jail, I want to move here." Dex declared.

"Sure. I assume your first invention will be some sort of sibling repellent?" Sophie joked.

"Definitely. Man, I really need to get started on that one." The two elves eyed the house.

"Who wants to knock?" Sophie asked finally.

"_You're _the moonlark," Dex answered.

"Yeah, but _you _found him."

Sandor resolved the argument for them by rolling his eyes and pressing on the doorbell. Sophie and Dex held their breath as they waited for Axel to come answer it.

A minute passed, and then another, but Axel still didn't come. Sandor rang the doorbell again. After a few more minutes, they were forced to give up.

"I don't think he's home," Sophie sighed.

"It's the middle of the night. Where else would he be?" Dex asked. Then he slapped his forehead. "Right. At a Neverseen meeting. I'm dumb. Just ignore me."

"You're not dumb," Sophie chided, even though she knew he was kidding. "You're way smarter than everyone else in our group."

"Yeah, but that's hardly a high standard, is it?" Dex joked. Sophie shoved him in response. The two lapsed into silence as they starred at Ravirral again. "Think we could break in and steal the caches?" Dex asked finally.

"Um, am I the only one who noticed the security system this guy has?" Sophie asked. Not that it didn't sound effective or anything (It definitely sounded fun- things were started to get a bit boring with no action or adrenaline rushes lately), but the risks seemed a bit too high- especially for Miss I Worry About Anything And Everything On The Face Of The Earth. (Acronym: MIWAAAEOTFOTE. What was with these terrible acronyms? First EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNS, now this.) Considering Axel's security system, she doubted they would make it even into the house without getting caught. Then, of course, they might not even _find _the caches. And even if Sophie and Dex found them, Sophie assumed that Axel would have put _lots _of protective measures into place to prevent the caches from getting stolen. Then they would have to get back _out _of the house undetected, if they miraculously made it that far. And, of course, there was the possibility, however small, that Sophie and Dex had the wrong guy. That would go over well: "Sorry, Mr. Hammers. We thought you were the Neverseen member Axel, so we broke into your house and tried to steal the caches we thought you possessed. Deeply sorry, good sir." Yeah, that wasn't going to work. And Sophie was trying to avoid doing more illegal things after the myriad of tribunals she'd had towards the beginning of her time in the Lost Cities.

"I could probably hack into that," Dex said.

"True, you probably could."

"Regardless of whether or not you _could,_" Lovise started. Both elves groaned. Of _course _the bodyguards weren't going to let them do this. "You are not under any circumstances _going to."_

"But-" Sophie and Dex both started, before spitting out protests that honestly the bodyguards didn't even seem to be listening to.

"Nope." Sandor agreed.

"Oh, come on!" Dex groaned.

"Sorry. How about we leap away and come back later?" Sandor suggested.

"I'm sure Dex the stalker could find out when Axel would be home," Lovise added.

Dex, who had been pouting up until now, perked up a little at the mention of stalking. "I guess," he muttered.

_Make sure you TELL ME once you find a good time to come back, _Sophie transmitted to Dex.

Dex jumped a little, but overall, Sophie thought he did a pretty good job of keeping a poker face. Of_ course. Maybe Keefe, too? Since he can tell when someone's lying?_

_Sounds good. _Sophie replied. Then, a little while later: _Make sure you get some sleep. Don't stay up all night working._

_Get some sleep, _Dex repeated. _What, like you do?_

Sophie rolled her eyes, but she could not deny that he did have a point. _Just- whatever. Sleep at least a little. And hail me once you find something important, _she reminded him.

The grin Dex gave her as they glittered away to their separate houses made her think he would hail her well before she found anything.

Her suspicions were confirmed at about two in the morning when she received a hail from Dex. As quietly as she could, she accepted it.

"Hey," Dex whispered.

"Hi," Sophie kept her voice equally quiet.

"Want to go steal some caches?"

Sophie hesitated only a second before replying "Yeah. But Sandor's right outside my door."

"You have windows," Dex said, dimples showing from the way he grinned wickedly.

"I do. But-"

"You know you can levitate, right?"

"Right," Sophie whispered, though of course she forgot. Years after coming to the Lost Cities, and she still sometimes forgot the crazy stuff they could do. Sophie wondered if she would ever _really _get used to being an elf. Somehow, she doubted it. The moonlark had spent twelve years living in the human world, and with a photographic memory, it was hard to forget all that. Whether she liked it or not, her time as a human had been permanently internalized in Sophie. Somehow, though, she didn't mind so much. Her human upbringing was a part of her, just as much a part of her as being the Moonlark. Sophie felt a pang of longing for her human life- even when she was wildly unpopular, at least she didn't have some crazy terrorist elf group after her- and an even sharper pang missing her human family. She wondered if, maybe when the war was over, she would be allowed to let her parents remember her. And even if not, Sophie hoped she would be able to see Amy more regularly.

"You coming?" Dex asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Um..." Sophie remembered the alicorn pajamas she was wearing and decided it would probably be a good idea to change first. "I'll be at your house in five minutes."

**Wow! That chapter was a little more than eleven hundred words, but it felt way shorter! (With the A/N's, it is more than 2,000. Wow.) Anyway, I hope you appreciated this chapter- it was all Dex and no triangle! Don't get used to it, though. Next chapter, I'm planning on incorporating Fitz Scene #1. And also some action, don't worry. But still. Fitz. Blargh.**

**Also! Um. 6,000 views- YAY!- and we're beginning to approach 150 for reviews. How about we meet that goal for this chapter? I know you can do it- I've gotten more than seven reviews on a chapter before! **

**Iggy is, right now, strongly in favor of rainbow (and sparkles, because I'm adding sparkles no matter what. As our queen Biana said, sparkles make everything better. What was I saying? Oh yeah.). Rainbow Iggy! If you feel strongly otherwise, please speak now or forever hold your peace! The Iggy poll is closing on April 1st.**

**Since this is already too long, how about we make it longer! I have a story on my other account, Glitter-Fangirls-23. It is a very angsty Dexella story entitled "Assassin." Please do check it out!**

**Still losing my mind, but whatever. Stay safe from coronavirus, don't lose any more sanity, and above all...**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	22. Chapter 21

**Hi! Updating pretty soon again! Yay for quarantine! *Crickets***

**Crowd: Boo for quarantine! I hope you get corona!**

**Me: *Fake coughs on crowd***

**Anyway, let's respond to reviews!**

**Guest: Thanks!**

**R: Glad you read it! Thanks! Nah, I didn't want people to start screaming at me about the Lylie age difference. Plus Marellinh is cute, plus LGBTQ+ representation 'cause we know Shannon won't include that. MULTISHIPIIIIIIIING!**

**IShipWayTooManyShips: Thank you! Team Foster-Keefe forever!**

**IShipTianna: THANKS! Oh yeah... O.o. Definitely!**

**MidnightBunnyy: All hail Biana the Sparkle Queen!**

**Arrow: Boring indeed. Very dramatic! Evil genius + Flowers = A. Fan's stories, XD. We all love Sandor. sLeEp? WhAt'S tHaT!? Cliffy! Dex appreciation! Thanks for the promotion! "Amazing and sometimes torturous woman!" XD. Half of that is true. YAY FOR SPARKLES, AND SANITY BEGONE! Adios!**

**thesirensong: I just chose the name randomly, lol. Though there is a kid in my math class named Jayden... Anyway. I live for the platonic Dexphie. My parents are divorcing, and I'm spending half my time in my Dad's new house, about 10 minutes away from my other. Very big move. I think New York is the highest? Stay safe regardless. I probably need that too. I have a few fanfictions on Wattpad (Inlovewithmallowmelt), and I'm working on some original stuff that I might create a second account for. I hope to see your stuff on there!**

**Elizabethornton: DEX DESERVES EVERYTHING. Thanks!**

**all i see is sky: YAY! ACCOUNT! I already told you, but I LOVE your username! Eeeeeee! Definitely a great cause! **

**Mallowmelt: YAY RAINBOW! BOO FITZ! YAY COVER! Lol.**

**FlowerGirl15: mE tOo! Urgh, Fitzipoo. Thanks! Yay for the Dex! Stay safe! And I'm 90% eating bats goes against my religion, so...**

As quietly as she could, Sophie opened a window, wincing when it made a loud noise. She hoped Sandor hadn't heard. As the moonlark opened the window wide and prepared to levitate out, she made the mistake of looking down.

"Oh mallowmelt, that's high," she breathed. Then Sophie gave her head a little shake. She was the moonlark! She was the most powerful elf in the Lost Cities! She had survived countless near death experiences! The Black Swan had given her great talent in skills, which hopefully included levitating. And she would _not _be defeated by flying out of a window a few floors up.

So, the Completely and Utterly Fearless Moonlark Who Was In No Way Scared, What The Mallowmelt Are You Talking About (How about we _not _acronym that one?) slipped out the window and slowly

slowly

slowly

levitated down.

There was that one terrifying moment when Sophie temporarily lost control of her levitation and free fell about five feet before she regained control, but otherwise, she made it to the ground without a problem. And, for once in her life, completely unscathed! Of course, she tripped over her feet in the next few steps, but that was not important.

As quietly as she could, Sophie tiptoed through the backyard. She had just made it past Verdi the T Rex's pen when-

"Miss Foster, where do you think you're going?" said a high squeaky voice, stopping her.

Sophie groaned. "Hi, Sandor."

"You didn't answer my question. Where do you think you're going?" Sandor repeated.

"I was sleepwalking." Sophie deadpanned.

The eyeroll Sandor gave could rival Sir Salty Shadow's- and that was saying something. "Yes, and you were also sleep levitating out of your window with remarkable control. Seems very likely. Don't tell me you were going to go rob Ravirral with Dex."

Sophie's silence was all the answer he needed.

Sandor groaned and rubbed his temples. "Honestly, Sophie, do you even listen to the millions of lectures I've given you about safety?"

"Yes..." Sophie muttered. She swallowed and, with much more confidence, continued. "And you know what would actually make me safe? Taking down the Neverseen. And if I have to temporarily endanger myself in order to make myself safe in the long run, then that seems like a logical thing to do to me."

"I agree, we should focus all efforts on taking down the Neverseen. But you can't be stupid about it! Yes, danger is inevitable- but when we're forced to put you in danger, it's absolutely crucial that we minimize the risks! And sneaking out in the dead of night without a bodyguard, to go to a Neverseen members house, seems like taking a lot of unnecessary risks!"

Sophie sighed, knowing that she couldn't argue with Sandor- because he was absolutely right.

"But we still need to steal the caches. Even if we find Axel, there's no guarantee we'll get them back. Maybe I could've been smarter about it-" Sophie heard Sandor snort at _maybe- _"But there is no denying that by actual goal was completely necessary."

Sandor rubbed his temples again. Looking very much like he was about to regret his next words, the goblin said "Tell you what. If we don't find Axel, and/or get the caches back from him, within three days, Lovise and I will help you and Dex steal them- _with minimal risks and an actual plan."_

Sophie's face cracked into a grin after listening to Sandor's offer. Grinning, she flung her arms around Sandor and said "You're the best bodyguard _ever."_

As gently as he could, Sandor squeezed her back. "You're a pretty awesome charge, too. Even though you never listen to me."

Once Sophie drew back, the hint of softness in Sandor's face disappeared and he told her "Now if you go back to bed _now, _I won't even feel obligated to tell your mother and father about this. And just so you know... if you try to escape again, your punishment will be Boy Talk: The Sequel."

Sophie's eyes widened at the punishment. "I won't risk it. Can I at least hail Dex and tell him the robbery is off?"

"I'll contact Lovise," Sandor said. "You get some sleep, for once in your life."

**~/~Wow wow wow look at me I'm using these again~/~**

The next day at Foxfire, Sophie recapped Dex on the agreement between her and Sandor the previous night (or, more technically, earlier that morning).

Dex groaned. "Honestly, the robbery seemed pretty fun. It's kinda disappointing that we won't get to do it."

"Well, we only have two and a half more days," Sophie offered. "And there will be less risk of us, like, dying or something."

"That's true." Dex sighed.

"Okay, well, great talking to you. I have to get to Telepathy."

"Oh, for the Fitzphie Smoochfest? Or the Fitzphie Rejectionfest and Moving On To Keefe?"

Sophie groaned. "Okay, first of all, you're turning into Keefe. Also, you know I haven't decided yet!" Playfully, Sophie shoved Dex, and then proceeded to go to Telepathy.

"Okay, you guys know the drill," Tiergan told them. "Cognate exercises. Please no making out in the middle of class. Great, go ahead."

"Can I enter your mind?" Fitz asked. **(This is Fitz scene #1!)**

"Sure," Sophie answered. A few seconds passed before Fitz's voice said _Hi!_

_Hello! _Sophie answered. _What should we do for trust exercises?_

_How about we just, like, ask each other questions? Same rules apply- we each have on question we're allowed to not answer, _Fitz suggested.

_Sounds good. You go first?_

_Okay. Um... __What would you say are my chances? Of, you know, winning. The triangle._

Both Sophie's physical voice and mental voice were silent.

_I'm not saying you have to choose right now,_ Fitz clarified._ Just, like, sort of a general percentage. So I have a better idea of where I stand._

_About 50-50, I guess,_ Sophie answered, mostly unsure._ That's the point of a love triangle- you both seem equally perfect._

_Okay,_ Fitz shrugged._ Okay, makes sense. Thanks for answering that._

_Can I ask you a question now? _Sophie transmitted.

_Okay._

_You know I'm never going to be a 'good match' with you- does that still bother you?_

Fitz was silent for a while, before he tentatively answered _...A little..._

_Oh._

_But not as much,_ Fitz hurried to reassure her._ I'm pretty sure Biana's going to be a bad match anyway, so preserving the family honor is a little pointless. And... you know... I do feel a responsibility to the Vacker name... but you're worth it, Soph. After breaking up with you over this- and I realize it's _super _bad timing- but... you're worth it._

"That's really sweet," Sophie whispered out loud. At this point, she became aware how close they are to each other. Their noses were maybe an inch apart, and Sophie could feel Fitz's minty breath on her face.

Fitz started to close the gap until their noses were touching.

"I can't," Sophie whispered.

Fitz pulled back, hurt.

"I can't kiss you right now. When we have our first kiss, I want it to be more special. I want my heart to fully belong to you, and I want it to be perfect."

"If." Fitz corrected.

Sophie raised an eyebrow, confused.

"You said 'when we have our first kiss'," Fitz clarified. "I assume you meant 'if.' Unless... Unless you're choosing me."

"What?" Sophie stammered. "Um, no. I meant if. Yeah. You're right. Sorry." Sophie couldn't deny how fast her heart was beating- how much she wanted to tell him that she _did _choose him. How, even though she was so afraid of making the wrong choice, right now... she was pretty sure he's the right one.

The moment passed awkwardly, and Sophie and Fitz continued to transmit each other questions. So far, neither one had to use their allotted one unanswered question. After telepathy came a rather uneventful lunch, followed by another uneventful two and a half days that seemed to draaaaaaaag by, more slowly than Sophie's attempts to convince Silveny of pretty much anything. But finally, three days had gone by with no word from Axel, so Sophie was forced hold Sandor to his promise.

So, at around midnight, Sophie, Dex, and their bodyguards stood outside the thoroughly secured entrance to Ravirral.

"Who's ready to steal some caches?" Sophie asked.

**Okay, so you were probably expecting a robbery this chapter- but next chapter! For real, next chapter! And I kinda like this chapter. The Sandor/Sophie relationship is most glorious, and the Fitzphie scene is most barfious. (Yes, that's a word.) Anyway, hopefully there wasn't too much love triangle stuff in the chapter! **

**OH! ALMOST FORGOT! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYY FOR 150! WHOO! AND SEVEN THOUSAND VIEWS! (!) FIFTEEN FAVORITES!? TWENTY FOLLOWERS!? WE'RE HITTING ALL SORTS OF MILESTONES TODAY! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! ! ! :)**

**Please do check out my story Assassin, over on my other account, Glitter-Fangirls-23!**

**And, as always, please review!**

**Okay, now please review!**


	23. April Fools!

**Hello! Updating so soon? Practically unheard of! **

**Well, I have a lot of time on my hands.**

lol u rly thought u could steal the caches? axl laffed. gud luck w/ that!

sandr rolld his eyes & killd him. sophie laffed and picked up the caches.

gr8 that went gr8, dex smild. lets go home & eat mallowmelt.

when sophie got back 2 havenfield she saw a bootiful pair of TEAL eyes. OMG! she said. i solved the triangle!

you did? asked fitzipoo.

yes! fitzipoo i [GREATER THAN SYMBOL] 3 u!

oh. soph, sry, but i [GREATER THAN SYMBOL] 3 the chandelier! fitz said. sophie looked sad and fitz laughed and said just kidding i [GREATER THAN SYMBOL] 3 u 2.

they kissed & got married. grady was vry happy about the marriage & did not kill fitzipoo with a baseball bat

suddenly the nvrseen apeerd.

no 1 saw that coming! sophie gasped.

bwahahahahahaha the nvrseen laffed. and then they killed everyone except for fitzipoo.

fitzipoo morned the loss of his wife-of-3-secs sophie but quikly mooved on 2 the chandelier. they lived happly evr after!

**Yeah, sorry guys, I switched over to the Fitzphie side after much internal debate. I also now ship Keefiana. Since everyone died except for Fitzelier, I guess this is where Swan Song ends. It's been really fun writing this! Look forward to my upcoming story, Teal Eyes & Ripplefluffs!**

**Please review!**

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**APRIL FOOLS! You probably didn't fall for that, but I'm sure it gave you a laugh! Or a cringe. I certainly know I cringed while writing it. IT WAS TORTURE! Fear not, I am still and forever TEAM KEEFE! The real Chapter Twenty Two of Swan Song is coming soon, and this chapter will be renamed "Chapter 21.5."**

**Anyway, what did you think of my elaborate April Fool's Day prank? Was it hilarious? Terrifying? Painful? **

**Please review!**


	24. Chapter 22 (For real this time)

**This is a real chapter, I promise.**

**FastReaderBadWriter: Lol me too. But I wanted the Sandor stuff.**

**Guest: I will, thanks!**

**MidnightBunnyy: ...thanks? This chapter!**

**all i see is sky: Woo! You tell him! iT's So HaRd WhY cAn'T tHeY jUsT kIsS aLrEaDy!? Lol. Thanks, you too!**

**Cary Swirls: Lol. NO, SEQUEL IS GOOD! Idk what the "sleeee" thing is. Everyone should ship Sokeefe! Lol. That was torture to write though. YES IT IS IF! YOU TELL HER! :/ Thank you!**

**Thesirensong: :/. If there are a lot of corona'd (that's a word) people in your state, please make sure you're staying safe! Fear not, I SHALL LIVE! *Trips over speck of dust and dies* Lol, but that's a great plan. Hope you do! And yes, that was totally my favorite part. Thanks!**

**Guest: Indeed.**

**ArrowOfTheMoonlark: Lol, that's great. Maybe. I would totally read the boy talk sequel! I'm so sorry. Trust me, writing that trash was punishment enough. You did a great job with my Shady Black Belt Protection Squad ™! But no, I'm not emotional strong enough for a kiss. Thanks, you stay safe too! Adios!**

**IShipWayTooManyShips: Lol, thanks. Good thing you forgave me, because I do have that Shady Black Belt Protection Squad ™. This chapter! I'll try to be fast. WE ALL NEED DEXXXXXXXX! XD.**

**Mallowmelt: :)**

**FlowerGirl15: Not gonna lie, I had a lot of problems typing. But that made me laugh! Teachers... they just don't understand us fangirls. Thanks! That's okay with the grammar thing: I forgot the name for social distancing so I called it "Um... talking... stay away..." once. We're all turning stupid. Wait, I was already stupid. Never mind.**

**Everyone who reviewed the last chapter: Hehehe that was fun. Torture. But fun. I sound like a masochist.**

**Crowd: You _are _a masochist.**

**Me: What makes you say that?**

**Crowd: I mean, you bring us here specifically to insult you.**

**Me: True. Okay, I probably do have a problem.**

**Crowd: No, you _definitely _have _many _problems.**

**Me: Shut up.**

**Special announcement! Something very fun concerning the crowd will be coming soon: More details by the end of the chapter!**

***Clears throat* Yeah. Okay. Let's just move on.**

**And let's applaud me for keeping the A/N under 400 words!**

**Crowd: *Doesn't applaud***

**Me: Hey!**

**Crowd: *Throws rotten fruit again***

**Me: Stop!**

**Crowd: You just passed 400 words.**

**Me: THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! SHADY BLACK BELT PROTECTION SQUAD ™! ATTACK!**

**Okay, now let's move on for real. Enjoy!**

"Operation Stealing Caches shall commence!" Dex whisper-yelled. "Okay. So, I've hacked into the security system so that if we're careful, no alarms will be going off. I was able to disable the cameras, but I couldn't view them, so I have no idea what the house looks like. For the bodyguards, if you see Axel or anyone coming, press this button and Sophie and I will know to hide." He handed the bodyguards something that looked very similar to the panic ring Sophie wore.

"Wow. Dex, you did all this?"

"Yeah. Guess what, Technopaths actually can be pretty useful!"

Sophie sighed. "I hate it when you make self-depricating jokes about your ability like that. When will you figure out that you're actually really, really, important?"

Dex shrugged. "I don't know. About when I actually get appreciation, maybe."

Sophie looked down at her feet, suddenly ashamed of herself. "We probably are doing a pretty terrible job of showing you how awesome you are, huh?" Dex nodded, and Sophie added "I'm- well, I'm really sorry, Dex. Even if I accidentally start ignoring you sometimes, I'm always really glad that you decided to be my friend when I first showed up at Foxfire."

Dex grinned, showing Sophie his dimples. "Thanks, Sophie."

"Okay," Lovise interrupted. "This is sweet and all, but we're kind of about to start a robbery-"

"It's not like that!" Sophie protested, cheeks suddenly flaming.

"Yeah!" Dex agreed vehemently. Then his grin grew much more evil- _has Keefe been rubbing off on this boy? _"Besides, Sophie likes Ke-"

"-Don't say it!-"

"-And Fi-

_"Don't say it!" _Sophie's face was probably hotter than Everblaze right now.

Sandor raised a gobliny eyebrow. "Two boys, Miss Foster? Seems like Grady and I do need to have another boy talk with you."

"No!" Sophie yelped. Mortified, she grabbed Dex's arm and started walking towards the house. "Come on. As Lovise pointed out, we have a robbery to do- we're just wasting time by talking about my love life!"

Dex laughed as silently as he could. The bodyguards, however, made no attempts to quiet their cackles. Sophie glared at them all. "Dex, what sort of alarm stuff are we going to have to avoid?"

Her obnoxious best friend cleared his throat. "Right. Okay, so first there are lasers. I know you don't exactly have the greatest track record for coordination, so you need to be, like, really, _really _careful." Dex pulled out some sort of elvin gadget that looked extraordinarily similar to a human smartphone and tapped a few things on it. Previously invisible lines crossing the front yard began to glow red. "Don't touch any of those," Dex warned. "It will set of some sort of alarm and Axel will be here immediately. Also, it will hurt. A lot."

Sophie nodded. Her nerves right before showing up were nothing compared to what the knot in her stomach felt like now.

"Okay, follow me, and don't kill yourself," Dex said.

Somehow, Sophie managed to oblige. She ducked under some lasers and stepped over others, and there was one terrifying moment where she tripped over a blade of grass, but for once in her life, she caught herself. After what seemed like hours of almost-but-not-quite failing at everything, Sophie and Dex had made it to the front door.

"Okay, so, we need a password. Four letters. We have three chances to guess. And I'm assuming it's Axel," Dex told her. Sophie tried it, and they both heard the "click" of a door unlocking.

"Hey, look at that! It worked!" Sophie cheered softly. "Is there anything inside we need to be worried about?"

"Well..." Dex started. _This can't be good. _"There are motion detectors that I couldn't disable. That's the bad news. But the good news is that I was able to mess with the volume of the alarms we're going to set off. They're too quiet to be heard. So, I basically disabled it."

Sophie smiled. "Great." Before she could chicken out, (Because, to be honest with herself, she had a bit of a tendency to do so,) she swung the door open. The interior of the house was surprisingly normal looking- though Sophie didn't know what she was expecting. Nothing about the place screamed _Hey, an evil genius lives here! He works as the Neverseen's Technopath and just so happens to be in possession of a few caches that the Moonlark is going to try to steal along with her Technopathic best friend, Dex!_ Instead of stairs, Axel had escalators leading to all of the different floors, because apparently, geniuses are incredibly lazy. His kitchen had tons of crazy gadgets that Sophie couldn't begin to understand, but that's okay, because she wasn't trying to. Otherwise, though, it looked a lot like the inside of Havenfield- which was strangely disconcerting.

"Do you want to split up to go look?" Dex asked.

Irrationally, Sophie really really really _didn't. _Splitting up was _always _how people died in horror movies- and honestly, as they grew closer and closer to pulling this off, Sophie grew more and more scared. Rationally, though, she knew it would go way faster this way- and they would get it over with sooner. "Sure," she answered reluctantly.

Dex smiled, almost like he was reading her mind. "You'll be fine. Here-" He handed her two different gadgets. "The one in your left hand is an obscurer, and the one in your right hand is the gadget that will notify you if any of the bodyguards see someone. The button on the side of that- press that one if you find the caches and it'll let me know. And vice versa. That one allows us to talk, so I'll say something like 'Sophie, I found it!' and you'll be able to tell the difference between that and 'Sophie you need to hide!' Any questions?"

"Obscurer," Sophie repeated, holding it up to make sure she'd gotten everything. Lifting up the other device, she added "If this goes off, I need to hide because someone's coming. The button on the left will let me talk to you, and we'll use it if we find the caches."

"Exactly," Dex confirmed. "Even if you don't find anything, we're meeting back here in two hours. If you need a password to anything, it'll also be 'Axel.' Ready?"

_No, not really. _Contrary to her thoughts, Sophie nodded.

"Great. Good luck." With that, Sophie and Dex went to go search the house.

Despite the terror of the robbery, after an hour and a half of finding nothing, it was incredibly boring. Every singly drawer, cupboard, or secret compartment in the wall (there were a lot of those) had to be checked. Very tedious. Sophie only had one room left to comb through- _finally- _when the small device Dex gave her started blinking. As Sophie scrambled to turn on the obscurer and hide, she said some words that Grady and Edaline would probably flay her alive for, had they heard Sophie. She waited like that for who knows how long (probably about five minutes) before the gadget lit up and Sandor's squeaky voice said "False alarm. You're safe now." Exhaling for what seemed like the first time in an eternity, Sophie continued looking. Each square inch of the wall had to be meticulously examined to determine whether or not it contained any sort of secret compartment and- _Holy mallowmelt, I found one! _All of the last, oh, fifteen or twenty she had found had been letdowns- but Sophie was sure the caches were there in the house, so she couldn't help but get a little excited every time. Sophie punched in _A-X-E-L _and waited.

Nothing.

Sophie pressed down on the button that would let her call Dex. "Sophie!" he whispered. "Did you find anything?"

"Maybe," Sophie answered. "This one compartment has a different password than the others."

Sophie could almost hear the gears in Dex's mind starting to turn. "Okay," he said finally. "Swipe left for a numerical keyboard, and then type in-" he recited a list of numbers that Sophie's photographic memory had no trouble catching. She followed his directions and held her breath as she heard the "click" of it unlocking. The hidden door opened, and-

"Found them."

**IT FINALLY HAPPENED! YAY! They broke into Axel's house and found the caches! You may rejoice!**

**I feel like this chapter is kind of bad... Idk, I'm not good with action scenes. **

**Anyway, time for a special announcement! IStillHopeForSophex, who is also writing a book nine prediction (go check his account out!), has created a character similar to the crowd called "GTAtemp guy," or GT. Since the crowd and GT are so similar, we are working on a collaborative story about the two of them! *Confetti cannon* *Sokeefe canon. Haha. Get it?***

**Crowd: You are so lame.**

**Me: Yeah! That's the kind of thing you're gonna get to say all the time in our story!**

**Anyway, hopefully you will go read that once it's published! **

**I hope to have next update up by Friday! :)**

**Please review!**


	25. Chapter 23

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEEEEEEE!**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEEEEEEE!**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR A VERY OBSESSED FANGIRL!**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!**

**YAY! TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY! I am now...**

**A number higher than I was yesterday.**

**Lol, like I'm revealing my age!**

**Anyway, fast update! Whoo!**

**Elizabethornton: Other than Sophie, I think Dex might actually be the most frequently appearing character here! Yay! And thanks!**

**Mallowmelt: :) Maybe...**

**Guest: Thank you! (Neither do I, honestly,) but I usually update quickly, and I definitely won't be abandoning you guys! Sokeefe is life, honestly. I'm in love with their love because I have no love of my own, lol. And Fitzelier is great! Bye!**

**Arrow: Thank you, thank you. I did fail though. I hereby declare Dex Appreciation Day to be celebrated annually every day between January 1st and December 31st. Evil geniuses are the laziest people alive! I've been told I'm evil, I've been told I'm a genius, and I am chronically lazy! AHHHH! Lol, I didn't know you stalked him. But the collab is going pretty well so far! **

**ConnoisseurCary: Wow. What a short review, by your standards at least! The first paragraph is a mood... lol, I think we all dream of being trapeze dancers. I love that! Totally need a fanfiction. THEY DID! Anyway, thanks!**

**all i see is sky: I've been told I'm a genius, and I am chronically lazy, so yes! XD. Thank you so much! Definitely considered it... "We," lol. Yeah, that's what we do here in Lazy Genius Land- take credit for our stolen book characters' accomplishments! **

**FlowerGirl15: Ahhh! Yes! Thank you! I was proud of myself for that one.**

**IShipWayTooManyShips: YAY! Good questions. O.o... It's going pretty well so far! Thank you! I guess they kinda are like brother/sister... bUt HoNeStLy ThEiR fRiEnDsHiP iS tHe MoSt PrEcIoUs ThInG eVeR... I'll stop. #BRINGBACKOURDEXY2020!**

**Less than 400 words again? What is this sorcery?**

**Crowd: Well-**

**Me: *Backhands across room* NOT THIS TIME, PEASANTS!**

**Enjoy!**

"You did?" Dex whispered.

"Yeah. Okay, let's meet back in Axel's kitchen. These should be enough proof that he really is in the Neverseen, and we can get him arrested," Sophie whispered, unsure why she was whispering. As Sophie made her way towards Dex, the house felt a lot less scary now that the caches were found, but obviously they weren't safe yet. And when her alarm device thingy started blinking, the Moonlark berated herself for being calm. Dex, keeping more of a level head than Sophie, fumbled for the obscurer. Amidst the panicking, Sophie remembered something.

"Dex," she hissed.

"What?"

"How fast can you run?"

Dex looked confused. "Pretty fast. Why?"

"I'm going to teleport." With Dex's hand in hers, **(You're welcome, IStillHopeForSophex,) **Sophie took off sprinting. Dex seemed to be the only one remembering that Sophie couldn't teleport through solid objects, and opened a back door with telekenisis. Transmitting a quick _Thank you, _Sophie ran with Dex through the door into Axel's backyard. Had they not been in such a rush, she definitely would have looked around at the gadgets Axel had, but there was definitely no time for that now. The rubber band stretching sensation took over, and as they "snapped," Sophie opened the void and the two entered. Both of them reappeared outside of Havenfield. Remembering the bodyguards, Sophie pressed the button and said, at a foreign feeling normal volume, "We teleported back to Havenfield. We have the caches." The bodyguards light leaped over as well and all congratulated Sophie and Dex.

Now that they were safe, Sophie could feel an intense feeling of relief bubble in her chest. As she realized how much fun she had, with the adrenaline and excitement mixing with the fear, she began to laugh with exhilaration. "That was awesome!"

"I know, right!" Dex exclaimed. He held his hand up for a high five. "Hey Gigantor. Wasn't that a good idea after all?"

"Oh mallowmelt, you're calling me Gigantor too?" Sandor muttered. He titled his head towards the heavens and sighed "Why?" Sophie snorted.

"Anyway, we should probably get these caches to Oralie," Dex said, a smile still on his face. All at once, Sophie felt her good mood fade.

"Why her?" Sophie muttered.

"Because she's the one who should have Kenric's cache," Dex answered. "And, honestly, she's least likely to kill us when we show up in the middle of the night." As he realized why Sophie was so opposed to facing Councillor I-Have-Her-DNA, he added "It can't be that bad, Sophie. Come on."

"Okay," she muttered.

Sandor, naturally, came with them, as he did for everything. Thankfully, he kept his distance as they approached Oralie's castle- Sophie was sure he didn't want to get involved in even more elvin drama.

Sophie knocked. It was a while before anything happened. "Ten lusters she-" Dex started, but Sophie never found out what Dex was trying to bet on, because the door swung open. Councillor What-Should-I-Call-Her was standing behind the door, looking as perfect as ever despite probably being just out of bed. The exchange was mostly between Dex and Oralie, with Sophie looking at her _fascinating _shoes. As Dex explained how they obtained the caches, probably omitting the more unorthodox parts, Sophie's mind wandered. What did it wander to? It's unclear, but definitely _not _any boys with teal eyes. No boys with perfect hair either.

"Sophie." At first, she was terrified that her best friend had suddenly manifested as a telepath and was calling her out, but when he nudged her shoulder, she realized that someone had been trying to talk to her.

"Sorry?" Sophie's eyes flicked upwards for a second, at the person who suddenly had _wayyyyyy _too much resemblance to Sophie.

Oralie's lips turned into a sad smile. "Hopefully someday you'll actually be willing to have a real conversation with me."

Sophie grunted a noncommittal "Eh," probably proving Oralie's point.

"Thank you for the caches," Oralie said to Dex. "Bye."

"Bye," Dex repeated. Sophie let out another grunt. The door closed.

"Have you told anyone yet?"

"Told anyone what?" Sophie muttered.

"You know what I-"

"Fitz figured it out."

"Is that why you broke up?" Dex asked, putting the pieces together. Sophie didn't trust her voice, so she nodded.

"Oh." Dex, thankfully, didn't continue- maybe he understood the feeling from the Failed Kiss They Didn't Speak Of ™. Finally, he said "Have you told your parents yet?"

"My- oh. You mean Grady and Edaline, right. No, no I haven't. I'm not sure exactly how they would-"

"React?" Dex finished for her, and Sophie was sure he was manifesting as a telepath. Or, maybe, he was just really smart. "I think I know. They would be glad you weren't keeping any secrets from them, but they wouldn't let your DNA change their opinion of you. And of course, they'll love you just the same- especially since you didn't love them any less when you figured out who donated to the Black Swan. I think you should tell them. Like, why shouldn't you?"

Sophie opened her mouth to protest, but it was hard to actually think of a tangible reason. "Because Mr. Forkle doesn't want me telling anyone?" she said finally, though it sounded more like a question.

Dex snorted. "Please, since when have you ever cared about following his rules? Really, why shouldn't you?"

Sophie looked down. "Because it felt like acknowledging that she actually was related to me."

"You have to acknowledge it eventually. And maybe, just saying, you should do that with the support of your _real _parents."

Sophie looked back up and grinned. "You're a really awesome friend, you know?"

"Yeah, I think I'm aware of that. You're not so bad yourself."

"Thanks."

Dex's dimples showed as he assured Sophie that she was welcome. "It was awesome breaking into houses and stealing with you," he told her.

"Likewise."

Dex was still smiling as he removed his home crystal from her pocket. (Ooh, pockets. Maybe Sophie should forget about Fitz and Keefe and just declare her undying love for pockets.) "See you later."

"See ya." As Dex glittered away, Sophie made her way back to Sandor, and the two leapt back to Havenfield. After a few "hours" of "sleep," it was morning- and time for Sophie to tell her parents about her genetic discoveries. Nervously, she went downstairs to speak to her parents, hoping they would still be asleep- but no. Her mom and dad were sitting in the living room, both holding plates of mallowmelt like they knew Sophie would need its emotional support. She grabbed a few servings of the gooey heaven, and then sat down on the couch opposite her parents.

"Mom, Dad, I need to talk to you," she muttered.

"ARE YOU DATING-" Grady thundered.

"_NO!" _Sophie protested vehemently. She cleared her throat. "Um, no. This has nothing to do with a boy." Edaline opened her mouth. "Or a girl," Sophie added. **(Because we're all about destroying that heteronormativity!)**

Grady visibly relaxed. "Good. What is it, then."

Sophie swallowed, throat suddenly drier than the Sahara Desert. "Um... it's about my biological parents."

"Wasn't expecting that," Edaline said. "Go ahead."

She didn't think she could manage much, so she just forced out the name "Oralie."

"Wasn't expecting that either," Grady said. "But I'm glad you told us this, Sophie-"

"And it does nothing to change how much we love you."

Sophie smiled. Dex was absolutely right about everything- and it felt like an ogre-sized weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. "I love you, Mom. I love you, Dad."

**Okay, so I have some doubts about the quality of this chapter-**

**Crowd: Doubt no more, it was terrible.**

**Me: Shut up.**

**-But anyway, I liked including more of the platonic (Sorry, IStillHopeForSophex) Dexphie. AND THE GRADY/EDALINE BIT! IT WAS SO BADLY WRITTEN, BUT AHHHHHHHHH! I HOPE SHANNON INCLUDES SOMETHING LIKE THIS, BUT BETTER, BECAUSE I HONESTLY KIND OF NEED THAT IN MY LIFE!**

**Anyway, please do go check out my collab with IStillHopeForSophex (On his account). It is entitled "The Abyss of Author-Hating." **

**And, as always, please review!**


	26. Chapter 24

**Woohoo for 9,000 views!**

**Crowd: At the time you're writing this it's only 8,994-**

**Me: SHUT UP!**

***Clears throat***

**Fast updates! Whoo! I was bored so I wrote this just all in one sitting. Actually, it's usually only one or two sittings per chapter. Does anyone else do this? Or do they write a little at a time? Anyway you get to see Keefe Scene #1 in this chapter! But first I must respond to reviews.**

**Sariah Olivia: Thanks!**

**Mallowmelt: HmMmmmmmMmmmmmm... lol. Thank you! YES I NEED TO SEE IT AHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

**ArrowOfTheMoonlark: Holy Mallowmelt this is long. O.o... thanks for all the birthday stuff! DEXXX! You totally got the Lazy Evil Genius bit right- don't worry, I won't kill you. AND YES THE CROWD IS/ARE PEASANTS! PEASANTS I SAY! Don't mind my insanity. pLaToNiC dExPhIe! And yes everything is trademarked ™. ASKTWIBSAWAMSSSOR™... but that actually is 100% accurate. OH MY MALLOWMELT FOSKETS FOREVER! I loved both of those scenes. I didn't even know the word "heteronormativity" existed until last year, you knew it in kindergarten? Well I probably wasn't aware of it because... HETERONORMATIVITY! WHAT THIS IS LONG!? NOOOO... YOU REALLY THINK SO!? Lol. Adios!**

** Cary: Yay! Happy early birthday! You too! Hmm... maybe Gigantor will eventually. Geniousness... okay. Yeah. Word. He has a lot of points. Your mind is probably right, but I tell my parents nothing, so... we're both hypocrites. Lol I just wanted to say her throat was dry but then my fancy author self had to include a simile in there so yeah. HYDRATE OR DYDRATE! *Smacks Sophie with waterbottle.* Thanks! :)**

**Mallowmelt (again): :) I'm planning to!**

**MidnightBunnyy: I shall! End of this chapter. YES EDALINE!**

**Sirena: (Just using nickname because your username is long): Confetti! pLaToNiC dExPhIe Is LiFe- but Shannon disagrees, evidently. I still like Oralie, I think Sophie should give her a break. Mine is in lockdown, but I video called my friends so it's all good. Hopefully, yeah. I think authors will have more time to write during quarantine! So maybe the books will come out faster! Thanks!**

**IShipWayTooManyShips: HETERONORMATIVITY SHALL BE AS DESTROYED AS THE FOURTH WALL! Lol. Thank you! Yay! We're so proud. And thanks again- but don't die! O.o.**

**FlowerGirl15: Beautiful. Dex is finally relevant! *Sniffs* And teleportation, yay! I KNOW. They totally are her real parents! Thank you! I'm actually Jewish, which means for me that my birthday falls on Passover, which kind of sucks, but oh well. If you're Christian then happy Easter! :)**

**all i see is sky: ME TOO. THAT'S WHY I WRITE IT SO MUCH. Okay, I've stopped. For now. Very good! AHH THE FAMILY PART! Thanks! HETERONORMATIVITY = FOURTH WALL! Lol.**

**Okay, so, I would personally thank the person who helped inspire this chapter, but I'm pretty sure you'd all go murder her after reading this, so... I'll just say I took your advice and added in some drama! Said person probably knows who they are, so huge thank you!**

**Crowd: So much for keeping this under 400 words. It's almost 500. And now it's over.**

**Me: SHUT UP!**

**Crowd: Heh heh you suck at this.**

**Okay so I was going to include this big speech in my A/N but this document is already almost (now over) 2,000 words so maybe next chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

"So, the council still hasn't done anything regarding that Axel dude and the caches?" Keefe asked, meeting Sophie outside Kyknos, the new Black Swan hideout.

"No," Sophie muttered. "It's been more than two days! I get that the council has a lot to do, but really, shouldn't this be a priority? They're all such incompetent-"

Keefe cut her off before she could continue, which was probably wise- there was a good chance Forkle would lecture her about language if he heard whatever word she would have used. "I mean, most of them suck, but what about Oralie? She's cool, right?"

Sophie snorted. Once upon a time, she may have agreed, before she figured out what a liar Councillor She Who Must Not Be Named was. "No."

"Oookay... I'm not sure what changed, but I'm not going to ask," Keefe decided. "Shall we proceed with the training?"

"That is a good idea, Mr. Sencen. I'm pleasantly surprised." Sophie snorted at Mr. Forkle's comment, and Keefe looked offended. "Now, we need to be very careful when doing this. There is definitely no prior knowledge about stellarlune nor your new ability, and things could easily go very wrong. As such, we've decided to have you experiment on the ability of Miss Foster that is least vital to our success- Polyglot."

"Great. Steal Polyglot-ness from Foster. Um... how do I do that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. Just go with your instinct. How does your Empathy work?"

Keefe shrugged. "I just touch them. Think that'll work for this one?" He poked Sophie in the shoulder.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, poking him back. That provoked a mini tickle war, during which Forkle sighed and muttered his catchphrase until Sophie and Keefe stopped to actually pay attention, still laughing their heads off. She cleared her throat, fighting the giggles. "Um... you're a super visual person, right?" When Keefe nodded, she continued "Just picture, like, reaching out and stealing that ability's respective pin, or something. Maybe that'd work?"

"Right. Here goes nothing." Keefe closed his eyes for concentration. _"__Ça a marché__?"_

"Um..." Sophie was momentarily confused as to why her Polyglot abilities weren't working before she remembered. "Keefe, I think that's French."

"Sorry," Keefe said in English. "I meant to ask 'Did it work?' So I guess it did."

"Excellent!" Mr. Forkle praised. "Now try returning it."

Keefe's eyes closed again, and then opened. "Can Foster speak French now?"

_"__Oui! Ça a marché!" _Sophie answered.

"Um, say what now?" Keefe asked.

"Yes! It worked!" she translated. The two high-fived, but when Keefe held his hand up for Mr. Forkle, he was tragically rejected.

"Excellent job, you kids. You can go now."

Happy to get the mallowmelt out of this creepy house, Sophie speed-walked towards the door. She actually even made it outside before her foot caught on the ground, being pushed behind her by seemingly nothing. Thin air, perhaps? Whatever the reason, she was hurtling towards the ground, set to land flat on her face, until a pair of strong arms caught her and helped her regain what little balance she'd had before- though sadly not her dignity. She was sure her cheeks were heating up as she turned to look at her savior- and once she figured it out, the blush darkened. "Um, th-thanks, Keefe."

"No problem. We all know Foster's gonna trip over something every five seconds. It's only reasonable that we'd have someone within catching distance at all times.

Sophie wanted to be annoyed, but he wasn't really wrong. And she was grateful that her face hadn't been slammed against the [place] halls/floor. Why did she have to be so clumsy! This was all the Black Swan's fault! They could give her five abilities, including teleportation, they'd made her able to stuff no other elf thought it was even possible to do, _they modeled her off of alicorn DNA- _and they couldn't give her the gracefulness not to trip over oxygen! Really, guys?

"Did it hurt?" Keefe asked her. "When you fell?"

"What?" Sophie asked, momentarily lost in her angry mental rant. As she realized that Keefe was asking if she was okay, she blushed harder. "No, no, I'm fine. Thanks for asking," Sophie stammered.

Keefe's lips formed an obnoxiously attractive smirk- _WHAT THE MALLOWMELT!?- _and he winked. "No... I meant when you fell from heaven."

Although she was still blushing, Sophie rolled her eyes. "Oh my mallowmelt, did you just- that is seriously so lame."

Keefe's smirk grew wider. "That's how amazing you are, Foster, you turn even the coolest of guys lame."

Sophie was sure she ripped out half of her eyelashes before she glared at that boy- wait, was she turning into Grady? Off topic. "Can you, like, stop flirting with me?"

"Oh. Okay." As the Empath looked down, his smirk vanished and he bit his lip... _Why do I keep staring at his lip? _After a beat of silence, Keefe mumbled "You never seemed to mind before."

The other half of her eyelashes probably came out after that. Sophie looked down too. "That was before I knew you actually liked me. At first, it was just a little annoying, mostly confusing, but now... ugh. I don't want you to start treating me like your girlfriend when I'm still not even sure whether I like Fitz or you."

"Oh." Keefe repeated. The silence between them felt like a heavy cloud, and it wasn't made any better by his soft "I was just trying to make things seem a little more normal between us..."

"No you weren't."

Keefe didn't respond to the cold, harsh statement, but he finally lifted his head to let his ice blue eyes look at Sophie. One eyebrow raised in confusion. Sophie huffed, annoyed at him in general, and his need for her to explain only fueled the angry fire.

"It's obvious that you're using cheesy pickup lines on me as a stupid attempt to 'win' me over,'" Sophie snapped.

"What? No. Sophie, I was trying to flirt because- well, because I'm just generally a flirty person."

"So..." Sophie started, refusing to acknowledge the use of her first name. Determined to remain angry at him. If he's a flirty person, if she chose him, would he remain loyal? Vocalizing this fear, Sophie continued "Even if we were dating, you would start flirting with, say... Linh."

"Linh's gay-"

"You know what I mean!" Sophie shouted, so aggravated with this idiot boy, the one who made her uncomfortable and pressed all of her buttons, that guy who got sidetracked by the details rather than confronting the accusations directed at him, who couldn't be serious to save his life... Grady might have been right about that boy.

"Okay," Keefe sighed. "Yeah. I know. But no, I wouldn't flirt with anyone else. Even if you don't like me, flirting with anyone else feels disloyal." Although Keefe tried for a smirk, it didn't quite reach the rest of his face. Hurt lingered in his ice blue eyes. "You're the only one who could ever dream of being the object of my affections, Fo- Sophie."

"See, this is what I mean!" Sophie yelled. "You're only nice to me when you're trying to win my favor."

Keefe's volume started to climb as well. "I'm not-"

"Like, the paintings. That was really sweet, but you only did that because I was mad at you."

"I didn't-" Keefe sighed and pressed his fingers to his temples. Then he gave a rueful smile and shook his head. "What was I thinking? believing I ever had a chance with you."

"Keefe?" Sophie asked, bitterness still in her tone, but starting to seep out. "Keefe! Come back! I-"

**Um... heh heh? Sorry? **

**hEy! bLaMe ThAt PeRsOn I mEnTiOnEd At ThE bEgInNiNg! iT wAs ThEiR iDeA tO iNcLuDe DrAmA! **

**Anyway, too much love triangle. Love triangle overload. ARGH! I did include some stuff with Keefe's new ability, but yeah, this chapter was still a lot of triangle. Next chapter will be some more Axel stuff and maybe some of the girls because I'm starting to dex them.**

**Yeah, anyway, go check out The Abyss Of Author-Hating on IStillHopeForSophex's account and MidnightBunnyy's "Pjo and Kotlc React To Stuff" on Ao3. **

**Please review!**


	27. Chapter 25 (!)

**FAST(ish) UPDATE, WOOHOO!**

**ANONYMOUS: Yeah, no. Sorry!**

**Pit-and-Chase: Okay! It seems like it's worked! Anyway thank you so much! :)**

**Lilac: Thanks!**

**Princess Book: Thank you! (Not to worry, I'm hardcore Team Foster-Keefe!)**

**Sirena: I'm sorry! Wow, congratulations! You'll never figure it out, haha! Thanks! I don't celebrate, but happy very late Easter to you!**

**all i see is sky: It's totally a verb! *Shoves Sophie and Keefe together* You both made mistakes NOW KISS ALREADY! Lol. It made me laugh too! Thanks!**

**FlowerGirl15: I know... she definitely overreacted, so they both made mistakes and I think it just escalated. I haven't 100% figured out a plot for his ability, but it's totally cool! Thank you!**

**MidnightBunnyy: It's totally a verb. And calm down, he's in practically every chapter.**

**Princess Book (Ch 24) Aw, thank you! The crowd is stealing all of my credit. I don't ship Dexphie either, but platonic Dexphie is amazing. **

**Lilac (24): Glad you liked it! Too much conflict... and internal debate is hard, but great advice! Thanks!**

**Sariah Olivia: Thanks!**

**Okay, ready for the giant speech? Course you are. Here we go...**

**Chapter 25! Whoo! As of last chapter, Swan Song exceeds the length of Legacy, What Is A Legacy! And in terms of word count, probably exceeded somewhere around chapter fifteen. As of right now, it's over 30,000! (! ! !) That officially makes it my longest content story (React to ships doesn't count) on this site! I just went back and reread my version of Legacy, and I can't believe how bad it is! There are almost no paragraphs- it's almost entirely dialogue. Since Legacy What Is A Legacy was published at the beginning of March 2019, it's been a little over a year- and it's incredible how much my writing skills developed in that year. So I'd really like to thank everyone who supported me and helped give me the opportunity to become a better writer? Like seriously, I never would have gotten _close _to being a halfway decent writer if I'd never gotten a fanfiction account, and I'll rant more about how amazing this site is when my anniversary comes up (July). Okay, I'm done talking now, you can go read the chapter!**

**Enjoy!**

"What's going on with you and Keefe?"

Sophie groaned. Internally, she couldn't decide if she wanted to scream, cry, murder Dex, murder Keefe, or all of the above. Truly, it was an interesting mix of feelings. Three days had passed since her fight with Lord Hunkyhair, and she was getting pretty good at avoiding him like the plague. It was probably only a matter of time before he showed up at her house again. This time, she hadn't told her parents to keep Keefe outside. Grady would probably murder Keefe once she explained why, and as mad as she was, she still didn't want him to die... a little annoying part of her thought she might still choose him. All of her other friends had taken to interrogating Sophie (probably also Keefe) about this, especially Fitz, who asked Sophie at least five times every day, and had insisted "But we're _cognates_!" every time she refused. So, the center of the love triangle was also pretty annoyed with Wonderboy.

Boys were confusing, and Sophie had been trying to think about this as minimally as possible, which was why she was so annoyed with her best friend for setting her train of thought on that track.

"Dex. Please. I hailed you to ask about caches. Stop grilling me about my love life."

"You said _lo-_"

Sophie's over-analytical mind had started to dissect her own usage of the term "love life" the second Dex pointed it out. That was way more stress than she could deal with right now, and eventually she decided that she had proclaimed it a love life because that was just the more commonly recognized term for "romantic life."

Seriously, she needed to stop thinking about this.

"Dex, I swear to mallowmelt, if you don't shut up right now, I will-" her mind searched for an appropriate punishment. "-I'll bottle an Iggy fart and give it to the triplets!"

Dex's dimples faded. "You wouldn't."

"I totally would," Sophie argued. "Now, shut up and tell and me about the conversation you had with... a certain councillor who I don't want to say the name of."

Dex sighed. "You would already know if you actually managed to have a short conversation with her, and it was even about something completely unrelated to your shared DNA!" In response, Sophie stuck out her tongue. Her best friend sighed. "Look, Sophie, I get that you're mad at her for not telling you, but this is getting a bit excessive. Maybe you don't want to talk with her in your free time, but is talking to her about Black Swan stuff really that terrible? Eventually you're going to have to get over this... grudge you have against Oralie."

Oh, great, the other topic she wanted to avoid. Honestly, her best friend was amazing, but sometimes he could really be awful. _Can we, like, stop discussing everything I am trying to stop thinking about!? _

"Dex, I didn't come here for therapy!" Sophie snapped. "I came to ask about Fintan's cache."

"Fine, but did you at least tell your parents?"

"Yes! Now start telling me about stuff that actually matters!" Not that Sophie's situation with Oralie didn't matter or anything... it was more like it mattered too much, so she was shoving it out of her head to deal with later. Or never, never sounded quite good. Even if "never" wasn't possible... maybe she could ignore the problem until it stopped hurting. But then again... she probably did have to get Team Valiant together at some point, and she hadn't yet come up with an excuse to switch Councillors. _Oh, alicorn poo!_

"Okay, so, Councillor 'She Who Must Not Be Named' is going to keep Kenric's cache, because the only reason she gave it to us was as a bargaining chip against the Council, and they're mostly on our side now. The last forbidden secret we found didn't really help all that much, so Oralie doesn't see a reason to look at Kenric's- it would probably do more harm than good. Fintan's cache, however, the Council wants me to try to open. So I guess I still won't be sleeping. Man, when I said I wanted to be more important, I didn't mean give me every single job there is! Is there no in-between? Seriously! Okay, anyway, I'll be working on Fintan's cache. The council is dealing with Axel privately, and they're trying to make sure all of the stuff he designed is safe. Blur's prison was actually designed by Axel- so the council needs security done by someone else. Guess who they asked?"

"You?" Sophie guessed.

"Exactly! Well, and Tinker. But yeah, goodbye to sleep! And free time! Maybe I'll have an excuse not to do homework... hmm. That would be nice."

"Sleep? What's sleep?" Sophie joked. "Anyway, how about we _not _have a repeat of last time you were designing stuff for the council?"

Dex's periwinkle eyes darkened. "Ugh, yeah. I still feel really bad about that. But don't worry, if I have to design an ability restrictor, I'll make sure to put it on Alina."

Sophie laughed. "Is that it?"

"Yeah. Now, to enter a state of technopathic constant wakefulness with lots and lots of caffeine!" Dex declared. "See you later!"

"Bye!"

Sophie flopped backwards onto her bed. Too much was happening. All of the drama with Fitz and Keefe, especially her fight with Keefe- after which all logic told her that Fitz was her choice now... but her heart still didn't want to let go of Keefe. Lord Pretentious- um, Cassius- was definitely right about the head versus heart theory, but while he was at it, he couldn't have added an instruction manual on how to listen to your heart? Or get your heart and head to both shut up, because now is _not _the time to get distracted by feelings?

A close second to the boy drama was everything with A Certain Councillor. It was definitely the heart's fault for feeling so betrayed by finding out- but no matter how many times Sophie told herself to move past it, (which, admittedly, was not much, it was usually other people telling her,) she still found it impossible to look into Oralie's azure eyes, or look at the face that suddenly resembled her own, far too closely. Although Sophie now realized that she had definitely been neglecting Team Valiant, she still wanted to avoid having to work with that councillor. The one she had been happy to have been assigned, until she really really wasn't. Still, Team Valiant went on Sophie's mental to-do list.

Concerningly enough, the Neverseen only got third place in Sophie's "I Am Freaking Out About This Right Now" list. She wasn't sure if that said more about herself as a person, that she was letting herself get distracted, or that the Neverseen was being so quiet because something big was about to happen. Either way, she hoped Fintan's cache would reveal more about the Neverseen's plans, along with asking the former members Glimmer, Blur, and Axel.

Oh, and schoolwork. She was being assigned extra schoolwork because of the long break. **(Typing this, realizing that _I've _been on break for over a month.)**

If there was ever a right time to bury your head in a soft, fluffy pillow and scream your lungs out, it was now.

Iggy seemed to share Sophie's frustration, as demonstrated by the loud burp. Although Sophie wasn't reading the imp's mind, it sounded a little bit like he was trying to lecture her.

"Fine, Iggy," Sophie said, feeling a little bit ridiculous for talking to an animal who probably couldn't understand her, but hey, what about her life _wasn't _ridiculous? "No, I'm not going to deal with the love triangle right now- but I guess I will assemble a meeting of Team Valiant."

**Yay! That means- that means we'll get to see some Biana! And some Wylie! And some Stina, even though I don't really like her. **

**Okay, so I completely changed the course of this chapter as I was writing it, which means that the Axel stuff is happening behind the scenes- we're probably done with him- and I didn't include the girls, but again, Biana next chapter! Maybe a "girls' night" coming up soon, I don't know. (Disclaimer: Not _as _crazy as the Diana or Bam girls' night.) **

**Um, yeah, so I'm kind of just making this up as I go, but you know, it's all good. I'll figure it out. I figure the rest of the fanfiction will be like: Mild plot stuff, boy drama, plot stuff, boy drama, love triangle resolution, PLOT PLOT PLOT PLOT PLOT PLOT CLIMAX RESOLUTION. Or something like that, I may change my mind halfway through, you never know!**

**I actually might be starting to overuse Dex, though I actually didn't know that was possible. But hey, it's not my fault that all of the important stuff has to be done by a technopath!**

**Anyway, please review! :)**


	28. Chapter 26

**Less than a week... yay? Sorry. **

**Anyway I wrote this chapter right after reading an actual Keepers book so the style might be more Shannonish than usual... yay?**

**Crowd- Please, like you could ever begin to write like our Queen Shannon.**

**Me- HEY! I THOUGHT I THREW YOU OFF A CLIFF!**

**Anyway, review responses!**

**FlowerGirl: Lol, that's fine. She is! Thank you!**

**Lilac: Thanks! Definitely! That's the problem with having too many characters.**

**Pit-and-Chase: Hi! Cool! #BRINGBACKOURDEXY! Maybe... the problem is I'm a multishipper. i GaVe YoU MaReLLiNh OkAy!?**

**Mallowmelt: :)**

**Princess Book: Hardcore Sokeefe! He is! Probably, and I kinda did too... Thank you so much! Bye!**

**all i see is sky: True, true. Yay! Kind of. Thank you! My writing sucked at the beginning though. (CRINGE.) I'll try!**

**ArrowOfTheMoonlark: OOF. True... ELWIN! ELWIN WE NEED YOU! Me too, but it's a lot less. Thanks! Stay safe!**

**MidnightBunnyy: Hmm, true.**

**Cary: Good to know. It sucks though! So cringy! She better not. Looooooove! I need a fanfiction now. Yay! Okay, true. I guess. Writing isn't so hard once I get started. (I love food too!)**

**thesirensong: Yay plot! I'm sure it's not. Oh, I think I remember A Random Weirdo- I never made the connection though. I'm sorryyyyyyy. Hopefully soon!**

**SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: Thanks!**

**Okay, this is a pretty long chapter: Enjoy!**

"Would someone mind explaining why Miss Foster is looking at Councillor Oralie like she's about to inflict on her?" Bronte asked. Sophie bit her tongue, attempting to stop looking at her point-of-contact-but-definitely-not-mother as she morphed her face into something hopefully more pleasant. It had seemed like such a blessing to receive Oralie as a point of contact for her regency position at the beginning- and for what must have been the millionth time, she wished things could have gone back to the way they were before.

Well, honestly, she sort of wished things could have gone back to how they were before being kidnapped by the Neverseen. When she was where she truly belonged, but without having to constantly worry about fighting wars and not dying.

But then again, if she stayed that way forever, she never would have met Tam or Linh, or Sandor, and she wouldn't be nearly as close with Fitz or Keefe.

Would she go back in time if she had the choice?

Sophie didn't know.

But she definitely had more pressing matters to focus on right now.

"Your grumpiness must be contagious, Bronte," Oralie lied smoothly. Had she still liked Oralie, Sophie probably would have burst out laughing from the combined hilarity of the comment and Bronte's expression, but now, all her lips did was twitch up. It was funny. But Oralie's betrayal still lingered in the air, making her unable to fully laugh. Oralie's slight smirk saddened at seeing Sophie's reaction, and Sophie might have felt a twinge of pity for her.

But probably not.

Sophie tugged at an eyelash, hoping the rest of her friends- well, team, because Stina was there too- would hurry up and get there. Wherever "there" was- Sophie knew they were somewhere in Eternalia, but she wasn't quite sure which fancy castle she was in. They all looked the same to her. Team Valiant probably could have had the meeting at Havenfield- but when she contacted Bronte about setting up a meeting, he insisted that the councillors be present for this one. And in addition to just not wanting councillors in her house- because that would be pretty weird- she _definitely _didn't want her parents to interact with Oralie, especially now that they knew.

Why was her life so complicated?

The desire to have that question answered deepened as she saw the bedazzled door open and close on its own. Although she had lived in the Lost Cities for years, it still took her a second to realize that a Vanisher had opened it. Her suspicions were confirmed when a Biana-like voice announced "Lady Fos-Bos! Good to see you."

Despite her annoyance, Sophie felt her lips twitch up. She forced the smile back down. "Stop calling me that."

"Oh, Fos-Bos, you know you love it!" Biana teased.

It was all Sophie could do to keep from dissolving into laughter. "Seriously, stop calling me that! Or I'll come up with a really stupid and annoying nickname for you too!"

"Now I'm intrigued. Tell me, what terrible nickname are you planning to use as retaliation?"

Sophie hadn't gotten that far in her plan. Luckily, she was saved by Dex entering and going "Ooh! Are we coming up with fun nicknames for Biana?"

"N-" Biana started.

"Yes!"

"Awesome! How about Ruler of the Sparkles?" Dex suggested.

Biana clapped her hands excitedly. "YES! I LOVE IT- I mean, up, oh mallowmelt, that's awful! Please never ever call me that! I would be so annoyed!"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "How about Princess Prettypants?" she said, recalling the nickname Marella had used back when she didn't like Biana- though of course, Sophie used the nickname affectionately.

"Princess Sparklepants!" Dex exclaimed.

"Perfect! Okay, now we need a nickname for Dex. Quick, Biana, take revenge on him for 'Princess Sparklepants!'"

"Um... Techno-tomple," Biana said, referencing the mascot on Dex's badge.

The world may never know what Dex's response to that would have been, because Bronte cleared his throat and scowled. "Are you three done yet?"

Biana shrugged. "We're just waiting for the others to- oh look, they're here!" She waved enthusiastically. Wylie returned the gesture, but Stina's facial expression matched Bronte's.

"Hey, it's been a while. Why is that, anyway? Too busy crying over your breakup with one boyfriend and the other one being in a coma? Prioritizing your love life over our world? Eating mallowmelt and sighing 'Woe is me, I don't know which boy I love more!' Because clearly the Moonlark's little life crises outweigh the sacrifices that regents should be willing to make?"

Sophie flushed, not willing to admit how close Stina had been. She had definitely made the right choice in deciding to take on some of her responsibilities. "First of all, I _have _been working on things- learning about stellarlune, returning stolen memories, _climbing stairs, _catching two Neverseen members, stealing Fintan's cache, et cetera. What have you been doing?"

Stina looked like she would explode. Sophie cleared her throat. "Right. Now that that's out of the way... how are you guys?"

"Awful!" Biana exclaimed. "Mom and Dad were trying to talk to me about _boys! _Like, _ew! _I don't want to talk about my love life with my parents! Thank mallowmelt you saved me!"

"Yeah, I've been there. I also had Sandor... ugh. How about the rest of you?"

Dex shrugged. "Working on a balding elixir for Bex."

"Helping Linh brainstorm the best ways to annoy her parents about having a girlfriend," Wylie said.

"Wishing I was doing useful things with competent people."

Sophie ignored Stina's comment. "In addition to annoying your siblings, have you been working at all on the other stuff?" she asked Dex.

"Yes, Lady Fos-Boss. I've made Blur and Axel's prison a priority for now, but when I get the chance to work on Fintan's cache-"

"We could work on it," Biana interrupted. "Fintan's cache."

"We can?" Stina asked.

"Yeah. Dex figured out that caches need a password- so all we need to do is guess the password, and I don't really think we need to be a Technopath for that. And since we're not going to get Fintan to open it for us, we could use Sophie's mimicry... or maybe we could ask Keefe."

"No!" Sophie blurted. Ugh. She was hoping for one day free of boy-related thoughts. But she definitely didn't want to face him yet. "I-I can mimic. I'm not that bad, actually." When Biana raised an eyebrow, Sophie repeated her sentence in Biana's voice.

"Okay, that was decent," Biana said. "We'll use you. So, we'll work on Fintan's cache, Dex can work on the prison and maybe, I don't know, get some sleep? You look like you're sleepwalking right now. Maybe you could use your breaks for resting rather than making your siblings bald?"

"Pfft. Sleep is for the weak."

"You said it, Dex!" Sophie joked.

"Yeah, who needs sleep anyway?" Wylie added. Bronte and Stina both rolled their eyes.

"Maybe people who like not having ugly dark circles under their eyes? Or people who enjoy having a functional mind?" Biana suggested.

"A functional mind? What's that?" said Wylie.

Sophie smiled. "Anyway, jokes about how we're all basically walking disasters-"

"Especially you-" Stina said.

"-Jokes aside, I think Biana's plan sounds good. Does anyone else have a suggestion?"

"Maybe we could also interrogate Jaxx and what's-his-name... the Technopath guy, but the evil one, not the Dex one..." Stina started.

"Axel!" Dex exploded. "His name is Axel! Why does no one remember the Technopath?"

"Because their minds simply can't compute that level of awesome," Biana told him. Dex's dimples appeared in his cheeks.

Stina cleared her throat. "Yeah, interrogate Jaxx and Axel. They might also have information that would be in Fintan's cache, or maybe information about what could be used as a password."

As much as Sophie hated to admit it, Stina was right. "That's actually a pretty good idea. Who do you guys think should do what?"

"You should help with the interrogations," Stina answered, like she'd already thought about it. Probably, she had. "Since you're a Telepath. And an inflictor."

Sophie struggled to form comprehensible words in response to that. Finally, she managed "I am not torturing them to get information!"

"I mean, you could just threaten to inflict if they cooperate, and not actually go through with it," Stina argued. "Or maybe you will inflict on them! You've inflicted on the Neverseen before, right? I get that you don't want to torture people, but if we can't get information out of them, then that makes everything way harder for us- and definitely increases the risk of some of your allies getting hurt! Or maybe even dying! Wouldn't you rather hurt your enemies than let your friends get hurt because you weren't willing to?"

Sophie looked down. More than anything, she wanted to pull out an eyelash- but she didn't want to do that while everyone's eyes were on her, expecting her to act like a leader. So she drew in a shaky breath. "Fine," Sophie said. "Yeah. Okay. And... I guess you should also help with the interrogating. Since you're an Empath. You can tell if they're lying or not."

Stina looked about as happy to work with Sophie as Sophie was. "Fine."

Sophie cleared her throat. "So... Stina and I interrogating Blur and Axel, Biana and Wylie trying to open Fintan's cache- just tell me when you figure out the password and I'll mimic it for you- and Dex working with Tinker on building a security system for Blur and Axel's prison? Does that sound good do everyone?" The rest of Team Valiant nodded. "Great. Let's do this."

**Long chapter! 1,689- before A/N's! 1,987 including them. Anyway, hope you enjoyed seeing Team Valiant! I did my best to keep them in character. Go check out my collab with IStillHopeForSophex, "The Abyss Of Author-Hating." It's about the crowd and GT together! Also, huzzah for plot stuff! Love plot stuff! Boy stuff is boring. I think that's everything, please review!**


	29. Chapter 27

**This chapter is mostly triangle stuff- bleh! I crammed the second Fitz _and _Keefe scenes in here, just to get it out of the way. After that, we have a plot development chapter, a filler/triangle-ish chapter, the chapter where Sophie chooses, and then the plot stuff starts getting intense. I can't wait!**

**all i see is sky: Yay! Me too. Woo hoo! I wrote characters in character! Me too. I wrote it right after reading actual Shannon books, so... that's probably why. Thanks!**

**Princess Book: Me too! Stina's not so bad, I agree. Kind of annoying still. But very fun to write! Thank you!**

**Mallowmelt: :) Thanks!**

**Siren (If you're still reading): YAYYYYY! Me too. I agree to all of those. And I'm sure Marella agrees with you, about Linh. Yay! Plot stuff is fun. Much better than love triangle stuff. Eh, no matter how plotless your book is, it's got to be better than mine! I hope I can read it some day. Thanks!**

**Okay, so I got four whole reviews... what's up with that? Hopefully there are more on this chapter!**

**Enjoy!**

Team Valiant decided that they would reconvene in a few days. Stina and Sophie had worked out a plan to each make a list of questions to ask Blur and Axel. Sophie was under the Panakes tree, brainstorming ideas for the interrogation, when Fitz walked up. Glad for the distraction, Sophie set down her paper and pen and invited him to sit next to her.

Fitz handed Sophie the box he was carrying. She examined it, face brightening as she realized what it was. "Ripplefluffs?" Fitz nodded, smiling adorably. His teal eyes sparkled with excitement. Sophie laughed. "Oh my gosh, Fitz, with all the treats you bake me, I'll turn into a blimp!"

His movie star smile grew wider. "In that case, let me take some of that off your hands."

Sophie swatted him playfully. "Not a chance!" Fitz laughed, shrugging. Sophie opened the box and shoved a ripplefluff into her mouth. It was good- nowhere near mallowmelt, but still good. The dessert was gone in only a few seconds. "Thank you," she said, mouth still full.

"No problem." Teal eyes bored into her own brown. Her heart was fluttering, face approximately the temperature of everblaze- and somehow, she blushed even deeper when his gaze turned to her mouth. Why was it so difficult to chose? The amount of desire she was feeling right now should have made her instantly forget about Keefe and go kiss her teal-eyed wonderboy, especially considering the fight she'd had with him, but something held her back. Again, why was this all so hard? Fitz's crisp voice brought her back into reality. "You got a little..."

"Oh." Her face cooled as Sophie attempted to lick the icing off of her lips. "Am I getting it?"

"Here." Fitz very delicately touched his finger to the corner of Sophie's mouth, and wiped it away. His fingers lingered on her cheek. Sophie's blush came back with a fury. Sticking it into an oven would feel icy compared to this. She wouldn't be surprised if she melted on the spot. Softly, Fitz whispered "You know... we're still waiting for you to make your choice. It's been a while."

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut, wanting to block out the ever-present stress about the love triangle. "I know. I'll choose eventually-"

Fitz's fingers dropped from her cheek and tore through his hair. Somehow, it made him even better looking- but it was hard for her heart to flutter when he was looking so angry. How did the perfect moment between them get ruined so quickly? "When, Sophie? You know I love you, but I can't stand-"

Her heart fluttered and broke at the same time. "That's not how the first 'I love you' is supposed to go," Sophie whispered.

They said nothing until Sophie was called back into the house.

"And that was my first 'I love you'- romantically, at least- and it was ruined! My first kiss didn't really count, my first declaration of love doesn't, am I cursed or something!" Sophie buried her face into her pillow, grateful that her girl friends were willing to listen to her rant about all of her relationship problems, but so, so frustrated.

Biana handed Sophie some consolation mallowmelt. "Ugh. That sucks. You can bet I'll be yelling at Fitz tonight- or better, throwing him back into the chandelier." Sophie barely cracked a smile, even though any other time she'd be rolling on the floor laughing.

"It's just- Keefe wouldn't stop flirting with me. Fitz told me he loved me. Why can't boys realize that I just need time before it's okay to do romantic stuff like that?"

"Boys suck," Marella announced, staring up at Sophie's ceiling while draped over Linh's lap. "Dating girls is way better."

Linh splashed her girlfriend, smiling. "Hey, it's not Sophie's fault that she's straight and has to deal with boys. Let's try to be nice to her about it, okay?" Marella reluctantly agreed. To Sophie, Linh said "You know what I would suggest?"

"No. I can't read your mi- well, I can, but it's illegal, so I'm not going to." Thinking of telepathy made her think of Fitz, and their cognatedom. She tried to push her brain away from that direction. "What?"

"Talk to Keefe," Linh said. Sophie groaned. "I get it, you need time to cool off from your fight with Fitz. I'm not going to tell you to talk things out with him. But you've ignored Keefe for a while, you've had four days to cool off from what sounded like a relatively minor fight- I'm not saying it was irrelevant or anything, but your argument wasn't, like, something you need to kill each other over. Maybe not ignoring Keefe would help you feel a little better? Talking it out usually does work pretty well."

"Fine," Sophie agreed reluctantly.

And that was how she ended up standing at the Panakes tree yet again, waiting for that other boy she was annoyed with to show up and apologize. Sure enough, Keefe came only a few minutes later. While the Hair was still Keefe-ish, it was a _little _less messy than usual, which made Sophie oddly upset. Closely following Keefe was Ro, who had a bag of popcorn in her hands.

"Bring on the Keephie drama!" she announced. Sandor, who was outside watching Sophie, rolled his eyes- but he also stole some of Ro's popcorn.

Keefe approached her like someone would approach the gallows. Or a classroom during exams. Same thing. He ran a hand through his hair, returning it to its proper state of dishevelment. "Sophie."

_My first name? _Sophie thought. "Um- hello- Keefe- hi."

Any other time, Keefe would have teased her mercilessly for that eloquent reply. Now, he simply looked down at the ground, littered with Panakes petals. She wondered if he was remembering Calla... and the time they spent with the Black Swan. Sophie hoped he wasn't remembering it like she was. That definitely wasn't a happy time for him. "Are you... are you still mad?" Keefe asked tentatively.

"No," Sophie muttered. _Well, that's not true, _she thought.

"Liar." Keefe's mouth twitched up in a small, probably fake, smile. "You can't lie to an Empath, remember?"

"I guess I'm a little mad."

Keefe's Empathy probably knew that Sophie was only telling a half-truth- a severe understatement- but he didn't call her out this time. "I figured."

They were silent for a while, until Sophie stammered "So, um... we're supposed to be talking, I guess-"

Keefe nodded. "I'd really- I really want to apologize to you. I'm a freaking Empath, and I _know_ you- I should have realized that flirting would make you super uncomfortable. I sort of... I could tell that the whole triangle thing, the awkwardness, was starting to affect our friendship, no matter how much I didn't want it to. Foster, I can survive rejection from you, but losing you as a friend... that would be too terrible to comprehend. I just sort of... I somehow managed to think that teasing you would release a bit of the awkwardness, make things seem a bit more normal between us. It probably did make things less awkward for me, not having to tiptoe around you, but I should have considered how you'd feel about it, because the last thing I want to do is make things more uncomfortable for you. I'm really sorry, Foster."

Sophie refused to acknowledge _just _how sweet that was- but it was a little hard to keep a grudge after that. "I guess I did kinda overreact, did I?"

Keefe smiled at her- a real, wide smile. Not even a smirk. "Nah." With that smile, Sophie decided- or rather, realized- that she forgave him. Linh was right- it wasn't really _that _big a deal, especially now that he apologized. She smiled back.

Abruptly, Keefe's smile faded. His ice blue eyes returned to the ground as he ran a hand through his Hair. "I also, sort of, want- well, no, I don't _want _to, but- I'm surrendering."

Shock doused Sophie like a bucket of ice water. "You're what?"

"I keep screwing up, Foster. That's what I do. While Fitz does his Cognate thing with you and acts so perfect, I'm just here messing things up over and over again- and it's only a matter of time before I destroy things so badly they can't be fixed."

"You don't-"

"No matter how fabulous I look, Foster, you can't deny that I'm bad for you." The joke fell flat, and somehow, it broke Sophie's heart even more. His sad smile accompanied the delivery. She wasn't sure if she wanted to choose him, but right then, Sophie definitely wanted to hug him.

"You're not," she promised.

"Stop lying to me," Keefe whispered. "Please." It was the last word that shattered her heart.

"Keefe..." Sophie said. Her mind was racing, trying to formulate the best possible speech she could give Keefe to convince him of his worth. Yeah, you make mistakes, but you're also... just... well, you're always there to lighten the mood. You always keep me from stressing out so much I die. You're always willing to be my shoulder to cry on. You're willing to sacrifice anything for me- no matter how much I tell you I'm not worth it. And what I said earlier, that's not true- you do sweet stuff because you're sweet. Not to get me to like you, to make me happy. My point is, you may be flawed, but you're also really really great."

"Good lies are so painfully beautiful," Keefe replied.

"I'm not lying..."

Keefe was silent.

"Keefe, if you surrender now and I get with Fitz, I'm never going to stop wondering 'but what if I chose Keefe?' That question will torment me forever. I can't choose before I've actually chosen, if that makes sense. What if I'm walking down the aisle to marry Fitz and suddenly I wish it was you instead? Please, don't take the choice away from me. No matter what you think, I really like you, so... don't take yourself out of the running." Especially now that she was mad at Fitz... the same thing applied, she didn't feel ready to let her first crush go, but Keefe definitely had a good chance.

"Okay," Keefe said finally.

"Okay."

Keefe ran a hand down his face. "Waiting is such torture," he mumbled. Then his ice blue eyes widened. "Shoot- sorry. Sorry. I'm not trying to pressure you or anything, I swear. Take your time. It's fine. I was just talking to myself, wanting to get the rejection over with, not wanting to get my hopes up... crap, I keep rambling and making this worse. Again, super sorry. Please ignore everything I've just said. I don't want you to feel rushed."

"Sorry. I really am trying. It's just... I can't. Choose."

"Don't feel too bad." Keefe brushed a strand of hair out of Sophie's face. His fingers lingered as he whispered "I would gladly endure any form of torture to make you happy, Sophie."

**Long chapter! 1,900, not counting A/N's! Wow! Longest is still chapter five (2,222). Too much triangle stuff- but I slipped a little bit of Girls' Part Of Day in there. Probably the closest you'll get to a girls' night for a while, I'm sorry. It just didn't really fit with the plot. Maybe I'll add in a little right before Sophie chooses. Anyway...**

**Please review!**


	30. Chapter 28

**Hello! Fast update, right? I was feeling very inspired. And very bored. So, you're welcome!**

**Princess Book: Yay! Fitz was kind of a jerk in Legacy, though he always got on my nerves. Just characters like him... ugh. Thank you! Marellinh is glorious. Nothing wrong with being obsessed! Thank you, bye!**

**FlowerGirl15: I won't. I could never. Literally everything you said was true. Fear not, I am 100% Sokeefe! Well, I'm also Sophiana and Kam and stuff. But between Keefe and Fitz, I am 100% Team Keefe! Thanks!**

**Lilac: He is.**

**all i see is sky: Definitely! Marella is totally right. That sounds about right. Yay for plot! Thank, I'll try!**

**Siren: Ugh! Imagine what torture it was to _write _that! You're totally normal! Just like me... hehehe... *Gets locked in asylum* Darn. Okay, I wasn't sure if you were just done with writing or if you were leaving altogether. Thanks!**

**Cary: Thank you! Chandelitz forever. SOKEEFE! Yay! Pb crackers! But imagine what torture that was to _write! _I _know, _Fitz is such a ******* ******* SHE IS! Soon, though, soon... what else am I supposed to do during quarantine? XD.**

**MidnightBunnyy: Yeah. Marella is definitely right. I love Sophiana, but for Sophie to completely fall for someone new, get over two boys at once, and realize she's pan (at least that's how I headcanon her) would be way too much focus on romance for this book, sorry. If you're looking for Sophiana content, check out Teal Eyes over on wattpad! Thanks!**

**Mallowmelt: Yeah. Thanks!**

"So, why can't you just use your fancy Moonlark Telepathy tricks?" Stina asked, twisting a brown curl around her finger. Both girls stood at the entrance to Carcerem, the prison where both Axel and Blur were kept.

Sophie pulled out an eyelash, no longer caring if Stina thought that it looked unprofessional. "I told you. The members of the Neverseen are able to bury the important information so deep inside that I won't be able to find it without doing a memory break. We might end up using Telepathy anyway- but only as a last resort. For now, let's just try asking questions and using your Empathy to determine if they're telling the truth. I'll threaten them with Inflicting, but try not to use it unless absolutely necessary."

Stina rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. I still say you should actually use the powers that the Black Swan gave you. Maybe it'd be easier if your cognate boyfriend came."

"He's not my boyfriend," Sophie muttered. She was still furious with Fitz for blowing that first 'I love you.'

Stina snickered. "Ooh, right. The Sophie Foster love triangle boy drama."

Sophie ignored her. "And anyway, I'm the boss." Another eyelash made its way off of her eyelid.

"Yeah, I'm still not seeing why the council did that... but whatever. Ready?"

No. Sophie was honestly really _not _ready. But when she joined Team Valiant, she promised to do her best to fight for our world to be a haven of peace and harmony. And if that meant going to interrogate Blur and Axel even though every fiber of her being wanted to bolt... and then teleport... and then go hide behind Silveny... then it was her responsibility to do so. She was done with putting off her responsibilities in favor of personal drama. Sophie was ready to deserve the title of Lady Fos-Bos.

"I am Lady Fos-Bos," she whispered to herself as she twisted the door handle and yanked. Her free hand clapped over her mouth. Sophie hadn't meant to say that out loud... and she squeezed her eyes shut as she braced for Stina to mock her mercilessly.

But to her surprise, Stina only took the door and held it for Sophie to walk through as she said "Yeah you are!"

Sophie stared at Stina like she'd suddenly grown a third head. Stina flushed. "I mean... we're not going to suddenly become BFFs like you and Princess Prettypants, but... for all the snide remarks I make about you being terribly incompetent, you're actually..." she cleared her throat. "Listen closely, because you're never going to here me say this again. You, Lady Fos-Bos, are actually really powerful, and when you need to, you're good at taking charge, and... well, I think the council really did make the right choice."

Of all the things Stina could have said, Sophie least expected that one. She had heard similar things said by her friends and the council and her parents, but coming from _Stina, _the girl who used to absolutely _despise_ Sophie, it really meant a lot. She blinked hard, hoping that Stina couldn't tell she had teared up a little. "Thanks."

Stina flushed darker. "Don't make a big deal about it," she muttered.

Sandor, who had been following close behind the two of them, reached the door. "I'm going to come inside Carcerem with you two, and Bo is going to guard the door. Does that sound good?"

Sophie nodded. Back to her normal manner, Stina muttered "Why don't I get a bodyguard? Now that I'm working with the moonlark- and we've probably got spies that have told the Neverseen this- I'm in danger too."

Sophie wasn't sure who's eye roll was more exasperated, her own or Sandor's. "I'll see about getting you one," he said finally.

Stina shrugged. "Okay. Lady Fos-Bos, you ready for real this time?"

Sophie nodded, another eyelash making its way onto her fingertips. "Let's do this."

She was not ready. It was all she could do to keep her voice from shaking as she approached the two Neverseen members. "I- I'm going to ask you guys some- some questions about the Neverseen. Answering is not optional. With me I have- I have Stina, who's an Empath, and she'll tell me if you're lying."

"What about your Empath boyfriend?" Blur asked.

Sophie was proud that her voice stayed steady (steadier, anyway) as she answered "I'm asking you questions, not the other way around. So let's get started."

"And La- and Sophie's an Inflictor, remember, so you better answer honestly," Stina interjected.

Sophie nodded, hands in clenched fists so she wouldn't start pulling out her eyelashes again- the last thing she wanted to do was look weak in front of her enemies. "All right." Her eyes scanned the paper, all of their questions scrawled in her messy handwriting. "Um... we need to know more about the members of the Neverseen. If you have their 'real' identities, that would be amazing, but the priority is finding out how many people we're up against and what abilities they have. Remember, Stina will know if you're lying, and I'm- I'm an Inflictor."

Axel made a face. "Let's see. In addition to the ones you already know, we have a Vanisher, a Fluctuator, a Charger-"

"Hold on," Stina interrupted. "Sophie, shouldn't we be writing this down?"

"Photographic memory, remember?"

Stina's lips twitched a little at Sophie's unintentional joke. "Oh, yeah. In that case, proceed."

"Vanisher, Fluctuator, Charger, a Beguiler, two Gusters, and... Mist, can you think of anything else?" Axel continued.

Blur nodded. "We have a Voiciferator- code name Scream- and a Conjurer. Oh, and don't forget-"

"Right. Our youngest member- she's a student at Foxfire, level four- just manifested as a Mesmer."

Sophie swore loudly. Sandor sent her a look, but she didn't care. The Neverseen had a Mesmer. The only good news was that they were newly manifested- Grady would definitely be more powerful, but _still._

"They're telling the truth," Stina added. Sophie cursed again. Her team member shot her a look like, _Stop acting like you think we're doomed in front of them. _Out loud, Stina asked "Any real identities?"

Blur nodded and recited a list of names that Sophie didn't recognize, but at least she would remember them for when they could tell the Council. Arresting all of those people would be progress- real progress. Sophie repeated that to herself as she cleared her throat and asked the next question. "Glimmer mentioned an attack on the goblins- on Gildingham. What information can you give us about that? How do you expect to do that?"

"We're using humans," Blur answered. "Our Mesmer will be controlling them- humans are much easier to control than elves. With training, our Mesmer can probably control hundreds at a time before getting exhausted. You know how humans have much weaker minds, Telepaths can hear their thoughts naturally?" Sophie nodded, remembering all too well the headaches she got back in the Forbidden Cities. "And our beguiler will probably also be convincing some of them to fight. Vespera has been continuing her human experimentation, and I don't quite get how that works, but she feels confident that somehow they will be able to fight as well. All in all, we should have more than a thousand attacking Gildingham."

Again, Sophie cursed- but at least this time it was under her breath. When Stina nodded, confirming that Blur was telling the truth, Sophie swallowed and said "I see. And when is this attack supposed to take place?"

Axel looked like he'd rather be anywhere right now than answering these questions. "A week from today."

**Wow, after all these long chapters, this one seems kinda short- even though it's over a thousand. But the plot development! O.o I may have to add in a whole extra chapter just for the Black Swan's reaction to this stuff. Things are starting to get pretty intense! Heh heh heh... and they only have a week! Honestly, I'm a little scared to start writing this stuff- we all know that I'm going to need a fight scene, and I suck at fight scenes. Say hello to online writing tutorials! Lol. **

**No love triangle this chapter! Woo! And Sophie's choosing pretty soon... so does that mean... I'M BASICALLY DONE WITH WRITING IT!? AHH! YAY!**

**All right, I'm done rambling. Please review!**


	31. Chapter 29

**Fairly fast update, right? Don't get too used to it, lol, it's only a matter of time before I go on a six month hiatus like I did with KOTLC Reads KOTLC- but I'm back, so go read it! (Shameless self promotion!) Just kidding, I won't disappear for six months-**

**Crowd: Darn.**

**-but I might get a heck of a lot slower with updates at some point, so enjoy this while you can!**

**Guest: Thanks! Me too. **

**Siren: Nice reaction. None of us are fine. Lol, that's a mood. Thank you! I have read Divergent, good job. That is evil! Thanks!**

**Mallowmelt: :)**

**IShipWayTooManyShips: Magic? Quarantine. Lol yeah. Thank you so much! :)**

**FlowerGirl15: Idk what the Neverseen's goal is. This is my interpretation/idea. I'm also curious! O.o lol. I think they're scared of Sophie/Inflicting. Thanks!**

**Sky: Yay! Um... I think it's the Stina one. Yeah, say hello to the online tutorials! Clothes are important! Idk... I'll figure that out later. No problem!**

**Guess what, guys? YOU GET A GIRLS' NIGHT! YAYYYYYY!**

Sophie was very stressed.

Well, she was always stressed, really. But especially so right now.

Everything she and Stina had learned had been relayed to the council, and Sophie was so stressed that she almost forgot to tell Oralie. _For once_, she thought, _these incompetent fools better do something right._ The mental list of real names that Blur had given them was given, and she hoped that the council would arrest everyone as soon as possible- though a few of those names weren't in the registry, meaning that they had probably already been banished, which was unhelpful, and it seemed like there were more members listed by ability than by name. The Level Four mesmer's real identity remained unknown- that was frustrating.

They had two weeks to get all of Gildingham's security measures into place. And no matter how many times Sandor insisted that they were already strong beyond belief, it didn't feel like nearly enough. A few Councillors decided that they would send someone to go into Nightfall. Sophie doubted that doing so would work- after all, she and her friends barely escaped, and Biana's scars proved just how dangerous that was.

The Black Swan had countless meetings within the next few days. Plans for fighting, trying to guess what the Neverseen's battle tactics would be (Blur and Axel didn't know,) working with the goblins on their own battle tactics, figuring out counterattacks for the various abilities the Neverseen had. And training. And training.

And training.

Mr. Forkle- as Magnate Leto- had excused Sophie and her friends from their schoolwork in favor of training. Any other time, Sophie would have been overjoyed to not have to write essays on Elvin History- but even that would be preferable to the anxiety that this whole "Neverseen Attack On Gildingham" thing.

In conclusion, Sophie was very stressed.

And just when she thought her stress levels couldn't get any higher, as they got closer and closer to the day of the attack, they did.

Two days remained before the attack was scheduled when Sophie's friends decided to, in Biana's words, "De-stress the Fos-Bos." No matter how much Sophie protested, insisting that they couldn't waste time, that they would focus on surviving the rest of the week and then worry about her mental health, that there were much more important things to be done, Biana was relentless with organizing a Girls' Night. To her dismay, Marella and Linh agreed. And then her parents agreed that it would be a great idea for Sophie to take a few hours off of work and training and STRESS to hang out with her friends and be a normal teenager.

Those traitors.

And that was how Sophie ended up standing right outside Everglen, a backpack slung over one shoulder and a sleeping bag in her hands. Right before the door opened, Sophie's stress about the Neverseen almost completely blotted out her stress about the love triangle... and then Fitz opened the door.

She didn't know how to feel when she stared into his teal eyes. Sort of a combination between instant forgiveness and hugging him and strangling him and throwing him at a chandelier.

Emotions sucked.

And it got worse when he tried to apologize.

"Sophie! Oh my mallowmelt, Soph, I am so sorry. I didn't mean for our first 'I love you' to be while arguing, I promise. It's just... I'd been feeling it for so long, and so strongly, that really, it's no wonder that the words just... slipped out. I'm really sorry, Soph."

Sophie couldn't deal with that right now. She didn't know whether she forgave him, but she decided that thinking about it would be too much work. So she just muttered "Uh huh," and hoped that Fitz dropped it.

Fitz didn't drop it. "Sophie, I really am sorry. Come on, please just-"

But luckily, Biana showed up and saved Sophie. "Chandelier Head, shut up. Sophie doesn't want to talk to you right now. This is girls' night, and you're not a girl. So bye!" she said, dragging Sophie by the arm up to her (very sparkly, very pink) room. Marella and Linh were already there waiting.

The girls' night was fun. First they did makeovers- which was not fun, until Sophie got to give Biana a terrible makeover- seeing Biana's look of horror as she looked into the mirror made it all worth it. Linh and Marella did makeovers for each other, which made Biana very excited. Marella kept trying to insist that Linh was already The Most Beautiful Girl even without the styled hair and makeup, while Linh kept blushing and telling her to "just do the makeover!" This brought no shortage of squealing from Biana.

After makeovers, Biana tried to advocate for boy talk. That didn't really work out. Sophie was coming here to _escape_ the boy drama (and the Neverseen drama, but also the boy drama), Linh and Marella were both lesbian, and Biana still refused to reveal her crush.

So then Sophie decided to teach them human games- elves had heard of truth or dare, but not much else. They girls played a few terrible but hilarious games of telephone, some fun rounds of would you rather, Never Have I Ever, and then they did play truth or dare, which Sophie had the idea to turn into "dare or dare." The most notable dares were when Linh had to let Sophie do her makeup blindfolded, when Sophie had to rhyme everything she spoke for the remainder of the game (thank goodness she had a photographic memory, that helped quite a bit with her internal thesaurus), Biana had to make out with Lady Sassyfur, and Marella had to write a lot of love poetry about Linh. Fun game.

Biana then dared Sophie to mimic Keefe and prank call Grady, telling him something about how they were dating, or really anything that would make Grady's "THAT BOY" fury increase. In response, Sophie smacked her friend with a pillow. This sparked a pillow fight, no, an all out pillow war.

When they had finally settled down from that, Sophie started showing _them _the Harry Potter movies on her i pod- introducing those elves to human culture, specifically Potterhead culture, did bring her great joy. Eventually, at about three in the morning, they decided to go to sleep.

Well, they decided to _try _to go to sleep. It didn't really work so well for Sophie the Insomniac. Somehow, the whole boy thing kept drifting into her mind every time she almost slipped into subconsciousness. Finally, sick of lying awake, she got up and went to go raid the Vackers' refrigerator, hoping that they would have mallowmelt in there... but knowing herself, that wasn't very likely. Still... maybe some custard bursts or something!

In true Sophie Foster fashion, on her way to the refrigerator, she managed to walk into... someone. Turning on the lights revealed that someone to be Linh.

"Sorry!" she apologized in a whisper.

Linh smiled, letting her know that it was fine. Maybe she was just used to it by now. "Hi!"

"Hello."

"So, what brings you out of bed at four thirty in the morning?" Linh asked.

Sophie shrugged. "I was going to go raid the Vackers' refrigerator. Couldn't sleep?"

"Too much on your mind?"

Sophie nodded.

"Want to talk about it?" Linh asked, playing with the silver tips of her hair.

"I guess... I'm trying to put all the boy stuff on hold for now, because we have _much _more important stuff to think about, but... I really can't stop the question of who I want to pick from tormenting me all the time. It's just... I can't decide who I like more, and no matter how much Keefe tells me that I shouldn't feel pressured to choose, both of them are probably getting sick of waiting, and... what if they both get so sick of it that they both move on from me, and then I'm left with neither because I'm too indecisive. I want to choose, Linh, I really need to, but I just can't." Sophie sighed, a little bit worked up from the small rant. "Um... any advice? I realize that your relationship drama probably isn't as crazy as mine... but you're smart. So maybe? I'll take all of the Linh Wisdom I can get."

"I can try. So, um, I've never been in a love triangle, but... well, as you can imagine, when I was trying to figure out whether or not I liked Marella, there was quite a bit of internal debate, because no one had ever told me that it was possible to have a crush on a girl. Heteronormativity can be really harmful sometimes. But then I just sat down and thought about it, really thought about it, and realized that any time I imagined a future... she was there by my side. And... that was when I knew that I actually really loved her." Sure enough, a smile had risen to Linh's face at the very mention of her girlfriend. Sophie wondered if she would ever look that way just by thinking about K- F- _her boyfriend._

"So..." Sophie asked, trying to ignore the battle in her head, raging between the fact that she thought of Keefe first and the fact that Fitz was her first crush. "What are you suggesting I do?"

Linh's silvery blue eyes met Sophie's brown. The urge to pluck out a few (thousand) eyelashes was overwhelming, and small crescents appeared on her fingertips from digging her nails in to stop herself. "Don't overthink it," Linh said, refusing to break eye contact. "No looking back. Just think. When you wake up, who do you want to be the first thing you see in the morning? When you raise your kids, who do you want to be their father? When you get married, who do want Grady to grudgingly accept? When you have your first real kiss, who's lips do you want pressed against your own? When you live the rest of your indefinite lifespan, who do you want by your side? Sophie Foster, who do you love?"

A name flashed across Sophie's mind, a face, so faint and lightning-fast that it was almost impossible to notice. But Sophie noticed, and-

"I have to go," she blurted, already pulling a leaping crystal out of her pocket. "I- I have to go tell him that he's who I choose."

**Another long chapter: 1,800! Over 2,000 with A/N's! Anyway...**

**Oh my mallowmelt! Sophie is about to choose! Finally!**

**And... more excitingly...**

**I AM DONE WITH WRITING A LOVE TRIANGLE! EEEEEEEEEEEEEE! AHHHHHHHHH! YAYYYYYYYYYY! I HATED WRITING THAT STUPID TRIANGLE AND NOW IT'S OVER! HUZZAH! WE SHALL ALL REJOICE!**

**I know you guys want that next chapter as soon as possible, so please review!**


	32. Chapter 30

**Another fast update!? Yeah, I figured I'd give you one more before I had to learn how to write a fight scene. Ughhhh.**

**Crowd- *Snickers* *Twix* It'll be so terrible! I can't wait! **

**Me- Hey!**

**Wow! Thirteen whole reviews! Thanks guys! Almost 250... _the dreaded number._ (Maze Runner people, you'll know what I'm talking about.)**

**OH AND TWENTY FAVORITES! SERIOUSLY, THANKS GUYS!**

**Cary: Quarantine! HE IS A CHANDELIER HEAD! YOU'LL HAVE TO READ TO FIND OUT! That's fine. Thank you! And quarantine sucks.**

**FlowerGirl15: We love Linh wisdom. She's one of the only smart characters. YAY! And you'll have to read to find out! Quarantine has killed us all, and me no wanna english goodly.**

**MeeIsFarrow101: vERY CALM. Thanks!**

**Guest: Thank you! I have some Tam/Biana content if you want to read that! (Shameless...)**

**MalinaEverfree: Thanks! You'll have to read to find out!**

**Lilac: You'll have to read and find out! I've read it! It's great. And yes, it was probably based off of that, honestly. They are incompetent fools though! Thanks!**

**Mallowmelt: I suck at atention to details, but you'll have to read to find out! Yay! Thanks!**

**Guest: Thank you! This was pretty fast, right? You'll have to read to find out!**

**Sky: Woo! Me too, that's why I write it! THEY ARE! You'll have to read to find out! Though I suck at atention to detail. Thanks! And Linh is one of the only smart characters XD.**

**Princess Book (Ch 29): O.o That escalated quickly. Don't die. Thank you! It was fun to write. I'll try!**

**Princess Book (Ch 28): Don't die! 1) I mean... duh. 2) Yep! 3) MUAHAHAHAHA! He was. And thanks! **

**The-Vegginonymous-Potato: YEP! Thanks. And sorry. But not really.**

**MidnightBunnyy: I'm sorry! Solophie is great, but with all of the effort necessary for the love triangle, it's not really worth it. Thanks!**

**If you're a math dork like me, I think you'd all be pleased to know that the document used for planning the love triangle is/was called Keefe^2+Fitz^2=Sophie^2.**

**Get it? Get it? 'Cause it's a triangle...**

**I'll stop.**

**Alternate chapter title: A. Fan cannot write love confession scenes.**

"You must be lost," Keefe's voice said, turning on the lights. "It really is an unnecessarily big place."

After leaping to the Waves of Wimpiness, Sophie had realized that she didn't really think this through all the way. To let Keefe know that she wanted to talk to him, she took out an imparter from another pocket and hailed Keefe. He told her that he was really at Candleshade, and she leapt over there. Ro gave her a strange look as she entered, but didn't comment. Sandor, who had followed Sophie to the Waves of Wimpiness and then here, muttered something about why they couldn't have charges with a shred of self preservation.

After a quick ride on the Vortinator Of Doom, Sophe had been wandering the halls of Candleshade, relying on her (admittedly photographic) memory to remember where Keefe's room was- but it was dark, and all of the halls looked the same, and yes, she definitely was lost.

Sophie smiled, remembering that those were the first words he ever said to her- the first part, anyway. "Yeah," she agreed softly. "What brings you here?" She looked around, vaguely recognizing the room he led her into as Keefe's bedroom.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Right, but I asked first," Sophie countered.

He laughed quietly. "True. I couldn't sleep. And I came here to clear my head. I don't know why it works, but... it sort of does. I have a lot of memories here. Some of them don't even suck. Plus... Ro is right, smashing some of the stuff here at Candleshade is pretty theraputic. Okay, your turn to answer. Why is the Mysterious Miss F coming over to my old house at five in the morning?"

Sophie's face exceeded the temperature of the sun in that moment. She'd felt so excited coming here, but now... there was just a heck of a lot of awkwardness. "I, um, well, I couldn't sleep either... and I talked to Linh, and she helped me- she helped me realize that..." To stop herself from pulling an eyelash, she took Keefe's hands in hers. "That I choose you."

Keefe's eyes widened. His mouth opened to say something, then closed again as he changed his mind. Again and again. Finally, he settled on "Sophie, I- I hope you know what a horrible decision that is."

"Don't say that. Keefe, I don't know how you don't realize this, but you're amazing. You're who I want by my side as I grow up and get married and have kids and... Keefe, you may not be perfect, but I love you."

Keefe's arms engulfed her, holding on to Sophie like if he let go, he would lose her forever. She hugged him back with the same amount of force. Finally, Keefe let go. They stayed so close together as he cupped her face and whispered "I love you too, Sophie."

Her heart wasn't fluttering this time. In comparison, the way she felt after looking into Fitz's teal eyes was almost childish. No, her heart definitely wasn't fluttering. Instead, it seemed to be expanding, swelling bigger and bigger with her feelings for Keefe, almost bursting. Sophie's cheeks were definitely on fire, but instead of her usual awkwardness, she felt sure of herself as their faces drew closer...

And closer...

_And closer..._

"OH MY MALLOWMELT!" a voice squawked. Sophie and Keefe jumped apart. Her head whipped around, searching for the source of the scream. It seemed like no one was there... until the light in a certain area grew brighter and a giddy Biana appeared. "It's really happening! It is happening! This is not a drill, guys, _Team Foster Keefe is happening_!"

"It was happening before you ruined our kiss," Sophie pouted.

Biana bit her lip. "Oh. Feel free to continue-"

"Well, it's going to be awkward with you standing here watching!"

"Oh, so _now _you feel bad about making me third wheel!"

Their bickering was interrupted by Sandor rushing in, closely followed by Ro. "I heard a scream, is everything all right?"

"Yeah!" Lady Sparklepants piped up. "It's better than 'all right'! I was screaming because TEAM FOSTER KEEFE FINALLY HAPPENED!"

Ro let out a squeal almost as enthusiastic as Biana's. "YES! Our girl finally realized that she should throw that Chandelier Head out like trash? Anyway, I'm proud of you, Lord Funkyhair. You finally got the girl. Not that there was any doubt. And seriously, _where is the popcorn_?"

Sandor sighed and rubbed his temples. "Listen, _That Boy_-"

"Sandor, please stop turning into Dad," Sophie interrupted.

Her obnoxious bodyguard rolled his eyes. "Where do you think he takes his overprotectiveness lessons? Anyway, where was I? Listen, _That Boy_, if you ever hurt my charge, the gorgodons will look about as threatening as a tomple."

Sophie was torn between wanting to roll her eyes at him and wanting to "awwww," at his protectiveness of her. Well, that was his job... to protect her from the Neverseen, that is, not from getting her heart broken. So this was just Sandor caring about her. It really was pretty sweet... but also pretty annoying, especially since she already had her father's overprotectiveness. Luckily, she was spared from having to decide by Dex appearing in the doorway and saying "Hey, tomples are cool."

Biana grinned at him. "Sure, techno-tomple."

"Anyway, what's going on? It's five in the morning, and your hail consisted of basically 'Ahh! KEEPHIE! COME TO CANDLESHADE ASAP!'"

"That pretty much sums it up!" Biana declared happily. "Sophie finally figured out that cursed triangle and decided on Keefe!"

"Awesome!" Dex said, holding his hand up for a high five.

Before she could high five him, however, Marella came rushing in, hand in hand with Linh. "She chose Keefe, right? It seems like she did. Man, I really hope so."

Sophie groaned. "Biana, how many people are coming?"

Biana started counting on her fingers. "Let's see. I hailed Dex, Linh got Tam and Wylie, and Marella told Glimmer, and then breaking the news to Fitz was a team effort."

"Oh my mallowmelt... how did you guys find us, anyway?" Keefe asked.

Linh answered, "I came back into the bedroom, and Biana noticed about five minutes later that you were gone. When I told her why, she squealed so loudly that she woke Marella up. I thought you were looking for Keefe because of the leaping crystal, but we decided first to check Fitz's room. Fitz was still asleep and you weren't there, so we figured it was probably Keefe. Biana and Marella both screamed, which woke Fitz up. We had to break the news to him, and he mumbled 'whatever, I'm too tired to deal with this,' and fell back asleep. We each hailed our respective friends, and then leapt over to the Shores of Solace-"

"Waves of Wimpiness," Ro corrected.

"Um, okay. To the Waves of Wimpiness, where we found Keefe's note, and then each leapt over here at various times. The end," Linh finished.

"Why is everyone so invested in my love life!?" Sophie yelled.

"YOU SAID LOVE!" Biana and Marella shrieked together. Sophie buried her face in her hands.

Tam walked into the room next, followed by Glimmer. "Please tell me what was worth getting out of bed at this ungodly hour for?" he muttered.

"Sophie chose Keefe!" Linh answered.

"Yeah. That's nice. I don't really care," Tam replied. "I want to go back to bed."

Glimmer shrugged. "I don't really know you guys well enough to understand everything about the triangle thing and the ships, but, um, congratulations!"

"Thank you," Keefe said. Sophie groaned. She just wanted to kiss her new boyfriend (boyfriend? Maybe? Well, they hadn't actually discussed it, so no...) in peace, without all of these annoying people called "friends" showing up and interrupting. The feeling got about ten times worse when a familiar teal-eyed elf entered the room.

Ex-Boyfriend Who She Agreed To Be "Just Friends" With But Might Still Like, She's Not Sure.

But then again, now that she'd chosen Keefe, anything after "but" wasn't really accurate.

Ex-Boyfriend Who She Agreed To Be "Just Friends" With But Still Likes Her, And She Has To Reject Him. EBWSATBJFWBSLHASHTRH.

"Fitz."

"I'm guessing this means... you've chosen him," Fitz said sadly.

"Yeah."

"Okay. Well. Congratulations. I'm really happy for you two."

"Thank you."

"Don't worry, dude, you'll move on eventually," Dex, who had also gotten rejected by Sophie (in a much more brutal way), reassured him.

"He's right," Biana agreed, no doubt referring to how she used to like Keefe- thankfully, that wasn't true anymore.

"We're still friends, right?" Fitz asked Sophie.

She smiled. "Of course."

"And Cognates?" he asked, holding up the hand with his rings.

Sophie held out her own, and they snapped together. _Always, _she transmitted. Then she gently removed her hand from Fitz's and walked back over to Keefe.

_I can't believe these losers interrupted our kiss, _she transmitted.

Keefe wrapped his arm around her shoulders. _I know. For know, I guess I'll just have to settle for doing this._

_Doing wha- _Sophie's face flamed, but a smile spread across her face as Keefe's lips touched the top of her head.

"Well," said a voice. Sophie froze, the soft happiness that had just overtaken her vanishing instantly. Lady Gisela smiled. "Aren't you two just the cutest?"

**BAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT CLIFFHANGER! BAHAHAHAHA! AND I'M ONLY GOING TO GET EVILER! BAHAHAHAHA! YOU'RE ALL GOING TO HATE ME! BAHAHAHAHA!**

**Well. I'll wait for the death threats to start rolling in.**

**But, cliffhangers aside... cute Sokeefe! Fangirling friends! Overprotective Sandor! Rejected Fitz! More cute Sokeefe! Except for the last line, this was a nice chapter! Right?**

**Also, seriously...**

**It really should be titled "A. Fan cannot write a love confession scene to save her life."**

**Anyway...**

**Please review!**


	33. Chapter 31

**Okay. Oh, man. You guys are going to hate me. **

**Crowd- I already do.**

**Me- I know, but the fans don't! Yet.**

**Crowd- I'm sure they hate you. Who wouldn't? **

**Me- Um... the fans?**

**Crowd- WRONG!**

**But yeah, you guys are going to hate me. ****More than you've ever hated me before. That includes when I erased Keefe's memory, by the way. Let's just say someone dies. But I'm not telling you who, you'll have to read the chapter. Please do tell me your predictions!**

**It's kind of on the short side, only just over 1,000 words, and it's my first time writing a fight scene, so it's probably not _great- _but oh well! You guys are going to hate me anyway!**

**Guest: Thanks!**

**IShipWayTooManyShips: Hi! Lol, yeah. I'm sorry, but not really. Just wait: This chapter is worse! You totally will be tortured like this again, and more. Idk, that's a good question. You too! **

**Swiftheard1267: Well, this was announced before quarantine: Her publishing schedule may have changed. But it is very sad. None of us have lives lol.**

**Ilikethemsalty: Thanks! They're all me too, lol. Yay! Poor Dexy... um, brutallyer? Okay... Bad Gisela! I'd definitely do that, but she kinda wants to kill them all, and that's bad, so... **

**Lilac: Yep. Thanks!**

**Mallowmelt: Eh, you will this chapter! :)**

**Sky: Nice reaction. Sokeefe forever! I was kind of done with jerk-ifying Fitz (for now, at least). Biana is all of us, tbh. Gisela sucks. TRY NOT TO EXPLODE WHILE I WRITE THIS. Thanks! **

**MalinaEverfree: Sounds about right. Thanks!**

**DaMonkey0706: Sorry! But not really. And Team Foster Keefe forever!**

**Princess Book: Ahh! Don't die! But yayyyy! That was very Biana. Woohoo! No more Fitzphie! Again, please don't die! Thanks!**

**Guest: Sorry. But not really. I guess, yeah. Thanks!**

**Siren: AHH INDEED! (Don't worry, you were 251.) Eh, fangirls are always incoherent. Thanks!**

**MidnightBunnyy: Hmm... maybe. FedEx is pretty cute...**

**FlowerGirl15: Thanks! Indeed it is. I was kinda bored of jerk-ifying Fitz (for now). KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEFE! Okay you're welcome bye. **

**Prepare the tissues, prepare the weapons, prepare the death threats, and enjoy!**

Lady Gisela's lips curled into a smile. "Glad to see Keefe is awake. I trust you've already figured out what the stellarlune did to him? Now, we are going to need him very soon. Keefe, if you'll just come with me now, no one has to get hurt."

"No," Sophie almost yelled, instinctively moving in front of him.

Gisela cackled. "It will never fail to amuse me how the moonlark always thinks she can protect everyone, after failing over and over and over."

Sophie refused to admit how much the words stung- she was right, wasn't she? But then again... she hadn't died yet. None of her friends had died yet, despite overwhelming odds- two of them had been with the Neverseen, Biana had nearly bled out in Nightfall, Dex had been kidnapped by her, but all of them were still alive. She had tons of help, yeah, but she had saved all of them. They may not always win, but keeping her friends safe counted as a victory to Sophie. They would all come out of this alive.

They _would._

"You're not taking him again," Sophie said, voice much steadier. Keefe sent a wave of ice blue into her head, making her feel stronger. More confident.

They would all come out of this alive.

"Sophie, that's very sweet of you, but why don't we let my son make his choice?" Sending another wave of ice blue, Keefe stepped out from behind Sophie and stood next to her, taking her hand in his. Gisela's smile grew wider. "Keefe, if you come with me, none of your friends will get hurt, I promise. But if you don't... let's just say their deaths will be on you."

_Say no, _Sophie silently begged, not even daring to transmit it. _Please say no._

"If you think I'm actually going to let you kidnap me again, you must be even more insane than I am," Keefe said finally. Sophie let out a noise somewhere between a sigh of relief and a sob, almost attacking him with a hug before remembering they still had to fight. She had to settle for transmitting _Thank you._

_No problem._

Lady Gisela's eyes narrowed. "Fine."

Without warning, the room caught fire right along the left wall. Linh yelped and extinguished it. Marella was the first to speak. "Fintan?"

"Indeed."

The only logical thing to do was to inflict. So she did, until a scream split the air and her concentration broke. Head throbbing, Sophie realized that a Voiciforator was there. Before she could even finish processing that, electricity crackled through the air. Keefe grabbed the arm of a hooded woman and zapped her until she collapsed.

"Man, I'm loving this new ability," he muttered, before rushing over to where Linh and Marella were fighting Fintan together. Tam, Biana, and Glimmer were all fighting a man who kept flickering in and out of sight. Fitz and Dex were attacking Gisela and two other hooded figures. Sophie tried again to muster up enough anger to inflict on Lady Gisela, before she noticed someone else standing in the corner of the room, not fighting anyone, just watching with scowl on her round face. She was definitely no older than Sophie, and- _Oh, Iggy fart, that must be the mesmer, alicorn feces, alicorn feces!_

"Freeze," the girl muttered, barely loud enough for Sophie to hear.

Sure enough, when Sophie tried moving her leg, it was stuck. Even simply shifting her weight to the other foot felt like she was pushing against a thousand pound weight. But why would she want to move anyway? It would be much less effort just to stand here and do nothing. She wanted to stay still-

_No she didn't! Not when a throwing star was on its way towards her throat!_

She tried to move, she tried to scream, she tried, she tried, she tried, but-

_She was going to die._

Sophie squeezed her eyes shut.

But then a second passed, and then another, and then another, and she noticed that she was still alive. Slowly, one eye opened. And then she saw in front of her, and snapped her eyelid shut again, trying to force the memory out of her brain. But the image was seared in there.

Sandor.

Crumpled on the ground.

The throwing star lodged in his chest.

A scream escaped her throat, forming Sandor's name, until it didn't mean anything anymore, utnil she was just screaming and screaming and screaming but it wouldn't do anything nothing would do anything because Sandor had died, Sandor had died protecting her, and it was her fault, she should have tried harder, she should have moved, she should have died instead, and all she could do was scream and scream and scream. Distantly, she heard Biana yell her name and Ro yell Sandor's and Keefe whisper "Gigantor," but it didn't matter, nothing mattered, and her vision blurred and she couldn't take all of the emotions anymore so she forced them out of her, inflicting all of her pain and grief and anger on those people who killed Sandor, she had never felt more hate in her entire life than she did right now, they killed him, they killed him, they killed him. They deserved to die, they deserved to suffer and feel all the pain in the world, so much that they would _want _to die, but no amount of revenge would ever be enough because nothing could make up for losing Sandor, nothing, nothing, nothing...

"Foster. Sophie. _Sophie_." Ice blue waves in her head did nothing to calm her down, she was still screaming, and only then did she realize she was crying, cold wetness covering her cheeks and the taste of salt in her mouth, but she didn't care-

"Stop! Stop. Just- stop. Please. Don't hurt anyone else," she heard Keefe beg, and more ice blue flooded her mind, and she heard him whisper "Sophie, I'm so sorry," before his volume returned to normal and he said "Fine. I'll- I'll come with you."

**I told you that you were going to hate me. But that's okay, because I hate me too for what I did to Sandor! **

**AHHH it hasn't quite caught up with me yet that I just killed him.**

**I definitely think he's going to die, though, and hopefully this prepared you for that.**

**As for what happened to Keefe... you'll have to wait and see!**

**All right, please review.**


	34. Chapter 32

**Okay! You all want to kill me now! As you should! I know that a lot of the time I'll apologize for a cliffhanger and then say "but not really," but that's not true this time- I am genuinely so mad at myself for killing Sandor! I had also considered Grady, Edaline, and Mr. Forkle before deciding on Sandor, so... at least the three of them are surviving this fanfiction? I'm so sorry!**

**Crowd- Finally! They all hate you!**

**Me- As they should.**

**Crowd- Wait... I still hate you the most, right?**

**Me- Of course! No one can ever hate me more than you do! Wylie from my react fic _does _come close, though.**

**Anyway, respond to reviews!**

**MarellaIsTheBest: This isn't even the climax yet! And FedEx is Fitz and Dex- Fitz doesn't technically have an E in his name, but the pun is too good!**

**Multishipping101: Not the reaction I was expecting. And oh my gosh, thank you! Of course, no one can, but I'm so honored you think I'm close!**

**Lady Kiddo: Thank you! I'm so sorry...**

**Guest: I'm sorry! Please don't kill me! He was one of my favorites tooooo- thanks!**

**Ilikethemsalty: Wow, very... coherent. Sorry! **

**Bookhawks: Hey! A review that's not a death threat! Huzzah!**

**SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: I'm sorry!**

**MeeIsFarrow101: As you should.**

**IShipWayTooManyShips: I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Life is very cruel! And remember, I could always torture you more...**

**Siren: I'm sorry! I'm sorry! You should! Evil author high five! Thanks!**

**Elizabethornton: I'm sorry. Truly. But thank you.**

**Princess Book: I'm so sorry! Ahh! Grizel! Exile is a pretty good book... thanks! I really do think it's going to happen. I'm already a fangirling mess.**

**Mallowmelt: Lmao! Out of all the death threats I've received, this is my favorite! Mostly because I'm a giant math dork. I think I've reached my peak in evil, don't worry. Key word: I think! **

**MalinaEverfree: Sorry! :(**

**Sky: I did. I did. I DID AAHHHHH! I totally think it's going to be him in the real book. You should hate all of those people, myself included. Thanks! You too!**

**Lilac: OH MY MALLOWMELT YOU'RE TOTALLY RIGHT**

**FlowerGirl15: I'm sorryyyyyy. I definitely agree, if anyone died it will almost certaintly be him. She's my least favorite character! Ugh! #GiselaMustDie. ...maybe I'll like her off...**

**On a happier note, 14K views! And 17 reviews on the last chapter alone (I knew I would get a huge reaction from that), bringing the total up to 280. Thanks, guys!**

**Okay, enjoy! No one dies in this chapter, which is an improvement!**

Edaline squeezed Sophie's shoulders as the ground rumbled. "Remember Twinkle?" she asked softly.

Sophie nodded, unable to reply verbally. She definitely remembered the titanoboa, otherwise known as the Snake Carriage Of Doom ™, from Brielle's aurification. It didn't feel real that they were now going through the same process, but for Sandor. Every second, it felt like he was about to explain goblin culture or lecture her about safety or tease her about boys... and then she remembered... and then it hurt all over again.

She couldn't even bring herself to be scared of the titanoboa with the highly misleading name as she stepped into the carriage. Counting the seconds as they traveled as supersonic speeds- 542- was her only distraction from the feeling that Sandor should be there protecting her and the knowledge that he couldn't be. With shaking legs, she stepped out of the Snake Carriage Of Doom ™. Gildingham probably would have been beautiful- the perfect architecture, the rolling hills and the lake, the gold everywhere- but honestly, she didn't care. The only time she had ever been there before, Sandor had been there too, acting like a giant gobliny tour guide. Her photographic memory remembered everything he had told her- but even so, it didn't feel right.

Nothing felt right anymore. Keefe was gone, Sandor was gone, and their latest encounter had proved that they were never _really _safe from the Neverseen.

It had only been a few hours since the fight with the Neverseen. True to their word, for once, Lady Gisela and her allies left once Keefe agreed to come with them. All of the arrangements had been made quickly, and it was only just past noon when Sophie and her parents arrived at Gildingham.

Her reunion with Grady and Edaline had been bittersweet. One of Sophie's friends- she wasn't quite sure who- had managed to hail all of the parents and tell them what happened, along with the fact that they were safe now. Her parents quickly arrived at Candleshade, and all Sophie could do was cry as they hugged her and whispered how thankful they were that she had survived. Soon, though, she had to ruin the moment by telling them about Sandor.

Sophie wasn't sure what was to blame for her inability to walk properly- her general clumsiness, or her shaking legs. Grady wrapped an arm around her, keeping her steady. "How are you doing, kiddo?"

Tears rose to Sophie's eyes and she blinked them back. "I miss him," she choked.

"I know," Grady said quietly. "He was a really amazing bodyguard. And a really amazing goblin in general." Sophie nodded. "If I could make this easier for you, Sophie, I would."

"I know, Dad," Sophie whispered.

Grady gave her a sort of awkward, one armed hug, which was difficult to do while walking. "And I'm really sorry about That B- about Keefe. He may be- there aren't really words in the enlightened language that can properly describe that boy, but no matter how aggravating or reckless or irresponsible or- I'll stop- he can be, he definitely doesn't deserve to be kidnapped by the Neverseen again. And I know that, despite his flaws, you really care about him a lot. And maybe- _maybe- _I tolerate him a little bit."

Sophie blinked back tears again, but a few might have escaped. "Dad, this probably isn't the time, but... well... right before the Neverseen showed up... Keefe told me that he... that he liked me in 'that way'. And... I may have told him... that I felt the same way. So... I don't know if we're officially dating or what, but... out of all the boys I could have chosen, I ended up chosing the one you hate."

"I don't hate him," Grady said. Sophie lifted an eyebrow with as much skepticism as she could muster. "Okay, I kind of hate him. But if you really love him, I'll try to stop hating him. But rest assured, if he ever hurts you in the slightest way, I will take my baseball bat and beat him to a pulp."

Sophie managed a watery smile. "Okay."

"Okay." They stopped walking just before the doors to the Hall of Heroes. "You ready, kiddo?"

"No," Sophie answered, pushing open the door.

Although the ceremony was supposed to be a celebration of Sandor's life and his achievements, it didn't really feel like one. It wasn't supposed to be sad, but Sophie couldn't help but cry when Grizel went up and stoically talked about how amazing Sandor was. Queen Hylda had wanted to know if Sophie could also say a few words about her bodyguard.

Former bodyguard?

Sophie decided not to think about the difference.

There was so much she could have talked about. How he never complained about the number of times she accidentally inflicted on him. How he was protective without fail, even to the point of being really annoying sometimes. How he was sometimes willing to break a few rules, as long as they were smart and safe about it. How he cared about her more than the typical bodyguard cared for their charge, according to him, anyway. How he wanted to resign because he thought it would be the safest thing for Sophie. How he decided to get a multispecial bodyguard team for her. How he decided to get involved in her romantic life- and if Sophie was getting nostalgic for Sandor's boy talk, it was _bad._

But Sophie knew that she couldn't say more than a few words without dissolving into tears again, so she declined.

And then it was time for his aurified body to be presented. Sophie thought she was prepared- she had seen Brielle's aurification, after all- but she really wasn't. It looked exactly like him- almost like he would walk over and say _"Do you _ever _listen to me, Sophie? Would it kill you to be safe for once in your life?"_. The only difference between Real Sandor and Aurified Sandor was that he was now pure gold.

And he would never be gobliny again.

Queen Hylda cleared her throat. "We would like to thank everyone who came today to-" her voice died off as they heard a loud pounding on the door, over and over and over. Only 18 seconds passed before it opened. A sea of humans stood before the doors, going on for longer than Sophie could see.

They were under attack.

**Man, this chapter took forever and it's not even that long. Lodestar is the only KOTLC book I don't own a copy of (along with Legacy, Glitterbutt23 stole my copy of that one) and of course, those two are the ones I have to reference most often. I also used the KOTLC wiki for a lot of this. I hope it was mostly accurate.**

***Crickets***

**Okay, fine. I'm sorry for killing Sandor, but not for that cliffhanger! Muahahahaha! Next update hopefully coming sooner.**

**Well, my Bat Mitzvah's on Saturday (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH), so probably not before then.**

**Okay, so... what did you think about the Grady/Sophie conversation? I kinda liked it, though I don't know if they're in character. I just figured Grady had to find out about The Triumph Of Team Foster Keefe ™ eventually, and since I needed a longer word count (this is over 1,000, but just barely,) I figured, why not here?**

**Okay, so I'm going to figure out how to write a fight scene again... :/. I don't _think _anyone dies in the next battle scene... wait, actually someone does, but I doubt you'll be upset about the next death.**

**We're actually getting kinda close to the end, which terrifies me. We have this upcoming battle, and then its aftermath, some Black Swan stuff, the climax, and the resolution- am I turning into an English teacher? Sorry. But yeah, we're kinda close. I would guess maybe ten more chapters, but maybe more- so not that close. **

**There is almost as much A/N as there is chapter- 1,075 chapter content, nearly 800 author's notes. I am completely rambling now. Mostly because I should be doing science homework but I don't want to. But I really should, so I'll leave.**

**Please review!**


	35. Chapter 33

**For those who were wondering, my Bat Mitzvah on Saturday went pretty well! **

**Crowd: But- but- **

**I was really freaking out though, so thank you to everyone who offered their support! You guys are all awesome! :)**

**Lady Kiddo: Marellinh is amazing. No, it's better than amazing. Maybe I will, once I finish with this! Thanks!**

**TeamFoster-Keefe: Thank you! I'm sorryyyyyyy.**

**MarellaIsTheBest: aND I REALIZE, THREE FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS AT THE EXACT SAME TIME! Sorry. 1) Again, sorry. But thanks! 2) Good question. Hmm... 3) Still no! Lol. :D**

**Elizabethornton: Thank you! Hey, nothing wrong with being far too emotionally invested in a fanfiction because the real book isn't out yet! Lol. I'm excited to write more XD.**

**Sky: AHH YES THEY DO! And Grady is pretty relatable. I think I might be starting a new one sometime soon... hehehehe. Yay! More FedEx stuff! I think the generally more-used term is "Mazel Tov," but Happy Bat Mitzvah works too! Thanks! -A. Fan.**

**MalinaEverfree: Meh, it's only a letter. They do! **

**Swiftheart1267: It's a sort of coming-of-age thing for Jewish kids that requires a lot of hard work, basically. Anyway. Thanks! Wow, that doesn't sound psychotic or Fitz-bashing at all... lol. I'm not telling! -A. Fan. :)**

**Princess Book: 1) Sorry! Writer's Block is my bad excuse! I think I did it again though. Oops. 2) Ahh! Sorry! I don't hate Sophie (well sometimes I kinda do, but that's not the point...), I just like torturing my main characters! Don't die, please! I might write a new fanfiction when this is over... Thanks! **

**SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: Sums it up pretty well.**

**MidnightBunnyy: Well, good enough. SHADY BLACK BELT PROTECTION SQUAD, ASSEMBLE! Kind of, yeah. It's not the humans' fault (although I do hate humans)! The elves are mind controlling them. But yeah, it is pretty wrong. Not that bad? I'll have to work harder! Ahh, I need my dam Shady Black Belt Protection Squad again! I probably will be starting a new one when this is over... (spoiler alert: There might be Kam!)**

**IShipWayTooManyShips: Sorryyyyyy. But true! Ugh, yeah... Glitterbutt23 sTOLE MY COPY OF LEGACY, so I can't reread it. :(**

**Siren: Or more! Maybe more! But I'm writing this like it's the last KOTLC book. I might be writing a new fanfiction though! Wow, that's a lot! I want to read your book. And it's a little creepy, but I'm actually having mine late! And at a great time... WHY QUARANTINE WHY!?**

**FlowerGirl15: Indeed they do. Oh, I'm sorry. Thanks! Once I'm done with this, I'll probably be starting a new one, don't worry!**

_Not again, _was the only thing Sophie could think.

Her second thought was that this shouldn't have happened until the next day, according to Blur and Axel- who were telling the truth, as determined by Stina. What would have made the Neverseen change their minds?

Probably the fact that she'd be here.

But they'd been preparing for six days, almost as good as a week. That last day didn't really make much of a difference. They were as prepared as they would ever be.

She just hoped that their best was good enough.

Sophie's eyes flitted back to the army of humans. Already, the goblins had started counterattacking. She was sure that the goblins were more powerful than the humans- the only problem was that they were outnumbered. She knew that she should help, after all, she was the moonlark... but it really didn't feel right.

The humans didn't do anything wrong. They were under the control of the Neverseen, it wasn't their fault. To the goblins and to the other elves, humans weren't really important- there were so many of them, and they did more harm than good anyway- but she had lived with humans for twelve years. She had grown up around humans- grown up believing that she was a human. There was no way she could _kill _one of them.

Except they were all trying to kill her.

This was a pretty serious ethical dilemma.

Sophie decided to focus on the other elves instead. There were less of them, which made her job easier, and they actually deserved whatever she did to them. Sophie scanned the area until she found the nearest person with a Neverseen cloak. Not really caring who they were, she mustered up all of her emotion from the past day- there was a lot- and inflicted it.

This time, she was brought out of her concentration by the sound of a gunshot, scarily close to her.

Sophie shrieked, diving out of the way just in time.

That was a bullet.

A bullet.

She had almost been shot.

Tears filled her eyes, tears of panic and stress and relief and fear and all of the emotion of the last few hours catching up with her yet again and overwhelming her. She blinked them away. Now was _not _the time to start crying.

But- the tears rose to the surface again when she caught sight of a familiar head of Hair.

"Keefe." Sophie meant to yell it, but it couldn't come out as more than a whisper. She ran toward him. "Keefe!" It was louder that time.

He turned around to face her, and seeing his face again nearly made her heart explode. She saw him mouth her name before running towards her.

There was a battle raging around them, but they didn't care as they closed the last few inches between them. She nearly jumped into his arms, and he picked her up and spun her around, and even before Sophie could actually register it, they were kissing.

"You- you came back," Sophie gasped.

Keefe smiled. "When will you learn that Team Foster Keefe will always prevail? I keep trying to prove it to you..."

Instead of answering, Sophie kissed him again. At some point, they both seemed to remember that there were probably more important things to do. Reluctantly, they pulled apart.

"Don't die," Sophie ordered. "If you die, I'll kill you."

"Noted," Keefe said. "Try not to make your near death experience too close."

"Hey, there's a _chance _that I won't-"

"No, there isn't," Keefe interrupted. "Now, go do your awesome moonlark thing and make the rest of us look like slackers!"

Sophie smiled. She was probably about to say something sweet, before an explosion distracted her.

"Don't die," she repeated as Keefe ran off towards the source of the explosion. She watched him poke someone in the Neverseen cloak, thank them loudly, and snap his fingers to make weapons appear. They must have been a Conjurer. Sophie tore her eyes away from him. Keefe would be fine, she told herself.

She had to focus on not dying herself.

Though Keefe was right, this would almost certainly end in an Elwin visit.

Sophie looked around the room, trying to decide who was the most pressing threat. She felt like an idiot when she realized- the humans were only a threat because the Mesmer was controlling them. So she didn't need to kill the humans. Just the Mesmer. Sophie continued searching until she found the familiar girl, only fourteen or fifteen years old. Instead of a scowl like the last time they saw each other, the Mesmer was grinning. Beads of sweat were trickling down her face, and her brow was furrowed in concentration, but she was smiling evilly the entire time.

Sophie ran towards her, occasionally running into other people. At one point, she felt a sharp pain in her arm. Maybe there was blood, she couldn't be bothered to check. Once she reached the Mesmer, the Mesmer's half closed eyes opened and looked at Sophie, seeming to recognize her as the Moonlark. Her eyes were dark, dark blue.

Sophie prepared to inflict again. The inflicting from the first time had drained her, but she was pretty sure she could muster up enough anger to attack the Mesmer as well.

_It's her fault Sandor died, _Sophie repeated to herself as she inflicted. Distantly, she hoped that she wasn't attacking Keefe as well, but she was probably too furious to stop even if she wanted to. It was impossible not to feel the smallest bit pleased- and therefore also psychotic- at the Mesmer's tortured screams. Yeah, Sophie definitely seemed a little pyschotic, but that person deserved all the pain. She killed Sandor. She deserved to die. It wasn't so wrong to take pleasure in the Mesmer's pain!

"Foster, you can stop now," Keefe said softly. He nudged her. "Sophie. Sophie, you can stop."

Sophie took a deep breath and stopped inflicting. She looked around. About half of the humans had stopped fighting, and were simply standing with a dazed look on their face, wondering where they were, what was going on, and how they got there. Keefe was staring, eyes narrowed, at a few figures in Neverseen cloaks, who seemed to be attacking themselves."You stole her Mesmerizing?" Sophie asked, fairly certain that that was the only explanation.

Keefe nodded.

"You're amazing," Sophie said, though she was too drained to put more enthusiasm into her statement. "What do we do with her now?"

Without warning, the Mesmer, who was just getting up and recovering from Sophie's inflicting, fell unconscious again. Keefe and Sophie shared a look of _What the mallowmelt?_

Biana blinked into sight, and their question was answered. "Wow," Biana said, eyes wide. "I was not expecting that to work. DEX, THANK YOU FOR THE SUCKER PUNCH!"

"No problem!" called Dex, who was throwing gadget thingies at people.

Sophie blinked, staring at Biana incredulously. "That. Was. Amazing."

Biana grinned. "I know, right?"

"Remind me never to get on your bad side, Lady Sparklepants," Keefe said.

Sophie laughed, opening her mouth to reply. Her sentence died in her mouth when a painful, excruciatingly painful shock jolted through her.

"Foster!" was the last thing she heard before her mind shut off.

**What's this? Another cliffhanger. Oops.**

**Okay, but Keefe is back! Huzzah! Their reunion was really really cringy- the first draft was even worse. *Dies in cringe* But tHEY HAD THEIR FIRST KISS! EEEEEEEEEEEE! Does that make up for the cliffhanger?**

**Also, Biana is a queen. That is by far the best part of the chapter- she just sucker punched the Mesmer in the head! I loved it. Say it with me: "ALL HAIL QUEEN BIANA!"**

**Okay, I don't have an exact date for the next chapter- but soon, I think. No more fight scenes! At least not until the climax. Which is soon! Ahh!**

**This story is almost at 300 reviews (! ! !). And 15K views! Thank you all so much, eee!**

**Please review!**


	36. Chapter 34

**This is A very obsessed fangirl, typing on... HER PHONE! I've never had a phone before, even though I have been asking _forever, _so I'm super excited. Yay!**

**Anyway, this was a moderately fast update, right? _Right? _Anyway...**

**Thank you guys so, _so _much for 300! I remember the days when I was a lowly, unreviewed, bad fanfiction author, but now my writing is halfway decent and I have hundreds of reviews! You guys are amazing. Have some virtual mallowmelt.**

**Guest: Thanks!**

**Princess Book: Yay! I am redeemed! Sokeefe kiss is definitely "woohoo" worthy. Yeah, it only took like eight and a half books, right? Thanks! Yep, though what the new fanfic is about remains a MYSTERY (partially because I only have a very vague idea that I could very easily change.) Bye!**

**Elizabethornton: Thanks! I'm glad. It's cool that your cousin reads fanfiction and live nearby. My cousins live in a different state and are not fangirls. Nah, I could never make Keefe leave for that long- I had their reunion planned the entire time. THEY ARE VERY ADORABLE YES! **

**SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: Ahhh! Okay! Thanks!**

**KotLCfan: AHHH! Thanks! I will! **

**MarellaIsTheBest: Thank you! Hamilton forever XD. Sorry. HAIL THE QUEEN! Yep, 'tis soon. When it does end, I'll probably have another fanfiction. Thanks! The mesmer showed up briefly in that other fight when Sandor- when Sandor- whensandordied- and was mentioned by Blur and/or Axel. And the Hair totally deserves capitalization! Anything else would be utter blasphemy.**

**Siren: Yay! I hope those three people like it. That's okay, I've definitely gotten creepier questions XD. bUt I wAnT tO rEaD iT! Lol. Thanks! And Sokeefe forever!**

**Mallowmelt: Thanks! It was clearly the best part.**

**Swiftheart1267: Hail the queen! Sorry, but no. Thanks! Maybe in a different fanfiction. Those were some very valid reasons, they made me laugh out loud. I agree with all of them! AHH SOKEEFE!**

**IShipWayTooManyShips: Hail! Yes, she is a queen. Aw thanks! AHH NO DIVERGENT AHHHHHH I LOVE IT BUT I ALSO REALLY HATED IT AT THE SAME TIME! AHH! Oof, the struggle. One of my friends ships Sophitz too, but we both like Kam, so it's all good! (I multiship if you couldn't tell.) Are we allowed to disagree if they ship Sophorkle?**

**Sky: We all love her. Seriously. Okay, take a deep breath and CALM DOWN- oh wait, I'm also a fangirl, I know it's impossible. Sorry. AHHHHHHHHH! Thank you! -A. Fan.**

**FlowerGirl15: Thank youuuuuu! Everyone is freaking out in these reviews, lol. Hmm, that's a good point... THAT IS THE EXCUSE I WILL USE WHEN SOMEONE ASKS WHY MY ROMANTIC CONTENT SUCKS! *Bows* Thanks! :)**

**This chapter consist of basically fluffy Sokeefe, and at the end you get to find out who died! Enjoy!**

"Foster, I told you that you were going to need an Elwin visit."

"Shut up," Sophie replied groggily. Even as she was drifting in and out of consciousness, Keefe's teasing made her want to roll her eyes- if she could find the strength to open her eyes. Although she had probably been asleep, she felt like she had just run a marathon and then decided to take up boxing or wrestling or something. In other words, very, very sore. Her head hurt, her limbs hurt, everything hurt.

"She speaks!" Keefe declared, his voice more full of relief than excitement.

"Whatever. It's too early for this," Sophie groused. She was tired. Very tired. Why would anyone want to wake up and face the world while feeling like they had been attacked with a sledgehammer, when they could rejoin the wonderful, blissful world of sleep? And it wasn't like she really had a choice- even if she wanted to wake up, she would probably fall asleep in the middle of doing something. She squeezed Ella, too exhausted to wonder who gave it to her, and starting falling back asleep.

"It's like ten o' clock at night, Foster."

"Well, I'm tired," she mumbled, barely audible.

"Okay, Sophie. You can go back to sleep."

...

"Keefe, you know you can go places other than here, right?" asked Elwin's voice.

"I want to stay with Sophie." She felt something squeeze her hand.

"I'm going to force you to leave at some point, you know."

"I'd like to see you try."

Sophie yawned, interrupting whatever Elwin was about to say. It took her a second to realize that she was in the Healing Center after the Neverseen attacked in Gildingham, and a second longer to register how sweet it was that Keefe refused to leave her side. "Keefe?"

"Foster? Sophie?"

Somehow, she found the strength to open her eyes. After blinking a few times, she looked around the room. Not that she really needed to look around- she had been in the Healing Center too many times to count. Keefe was sitting right by her bed, looking like he hadn't slept in a while. Questions started spilling from Sophie's mouth. "What happened in Gildingham? Is everyone okay? How long have I been out? What-"

"Um... it's been about... Elwin, how many hours?"

"Almost a day," Elwin answered.

Almost a day! She had been out for that long? Although she felt pretty awful right now, it didn't come close to the top of her list of Very Painful Injuries. It was probably worse than she thought if she had spent nearly twenty four hours unconscious. And she had missed the rest of the battle- mallowmelt, she hoped the rest of it went well.

"Okay. It's been almost a day. Their charger, who's name is evading me as of right now, managed to electrocute you."

So that was what electrocution felt like. Sophie had actually wondered about that, every time an adult told her to get out of the pool in a lightning storm or warned her not to get too close to an electrical outlet. After experiencing it, she felt pretty safe saying that electrocution was _not _an experience she would care to repeat.

Elwin sighed. "I keep thinking you've finally found all the ways to injure yourself in weird and dangerous ways, and you keep surprising me. Honestly, I don't even know why I'm surprised at this point."

"Elwin, Elwin, Elwin. Foster will _never _stop with the weird injuries. That's just a fact of life. This place is called the Foster Center, after all."

Sophie sighed, not able to argue with Keefe's constant jokes about how often she ended up here- her hideous opening ceremonies picture remained on the walls, to her dismay. It was definitely true that she got injured a _lot. _Though she couldn't resist pointing out, "I thought we renamed it to the Foster-Keefe center." There had at least been discussion of doing so. Sophie got injured more than anyone else, but Keefe definitely came in second.

"Maybe. Team Foster Keefe _is _always the best," Keefe declared.

Sophie smiled. "Indeed it is," she agreed. "You didn't finish answering my questions."

"Okay. So. I will narrate from when you got electrocuted. Biana and I freaked out, but like, in a levelheaded way. Biana leaped you over here, explained it to Elwin, and came back as fast as she could. Since she had already clocked the Mesmer- Gemma Osborne, I think her name was- a lot of the humans were no longer mind controlled. I think we're going to try to make it seem like just a crazy dream for them. We won pretty easily after that. I don't quite know if anyone died, but I've seen everyone in our friend group since after the fight ended, and they're all fine. Well, Glimmer was a little beaten up, but mostly fine."

Sophie exhaled, shoulders slumping with relief. "Thank mallowmelt," she sighed.

"I'm glad that this Foster emergency wasn't as bad as it usually is. You woke up after less than a day!" Keefe softened. "I'm really glad you're okay, Sophie."

The use of her first name made Sophie blush. "Um- I- you too. I'm really happy that you're okay too. When your mom made you leave with her, I thought you wouldn't come back for a really long time. If ever." Her hand, as always, had returned to her eyelashes and was tugging. Her blush deepened when Keefe brushed some hair out of her face. Sophie realized how terrible she looked, but she was too exhausted and relieved to really care.

Elwin cleared his throat, alerting Sophie and Keefe to the fact that they weren't alone. Both of them jumped backwards, blushing furiously. "Yeah, I'm just going to... go now," Elwin said awkwardly, backing away towards his office. "Congratulations on _finally figuring it out! _And Sophie, good luck when your dad finds out!"

"Right. I forgot about how your dad is going to kill me. Crap."

"Only if you hurt me," Sophie said. "I already told him about... whatever we are."

"And I'm still alive?!" Keefe gasped. "I guess miracles _do _exist. But then again, I already knew that- how else would you like me?"

Sophie blushed. "Keefe... what exactly are we? Like are we 'hopefuls,' or girlfriend and boyfriend, or-"

"Girlfriend and boyfriend sounds amazing," Keefe said. "If you're okay with that."

"I- um- yes. Yes, I'd love to be your girlfriend."

She and Keefe were just leaning in to kiss when Mr Forkle walked in. "You kids need to stop it with your love drama for like two minutes," he grumbled. "Keefe, I have some... news."

"Is it good news or bad news?" Keefe asked, obviously suspecting bad news. Sophie took his hand.

"It's both," Me Forkle answered.

When he didn't continue, Sophie squeezed her boyfriend's (!) hand tighter and asked "So... what is it?"

She never would have guessed it to be "Lady Gisela is dead."

**And yes, that is the person I decided to kill off. I hate her and I'm very glad she's dead. How about you guys?**

**aND DID YOU LIKE THE FLUFFY SOKEEFE!? I, personally, liked how they actually took the time to make sure both were comfortable with the girlfriend/boyfriend label, unlike A CERTAIN CHANDELIER CRACKER! *Breathes heavily* Okay. I'm okay. But Wonderboy won't be. MUAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**Um... I'm not psychotic, I promise! Hey! Don't lock me in a mental asylu-**

**Oh well. Please review!**


	37. Chapter 35

**This chapter was hard to write: I had no idea what to do with Gisela's death, I just knew that I wanted her dead. So Keefe's reaction was a bit of a challenge: But oh well! It's written now!**

**Lady Kiddo: No problem, my slow updates mean that most people will notice before the next chapter comes out. Lol. SOKEEFE! Yayyyy! I have, actually, but thank you so much!**

**KotLCfan: Well, she is. I hate her.**

**MarellaIsTheBest: Indeed it is. No problem! Man, I can't even keep track of everything in my _own story. _I keep having to go back and check! Definitely a positive event.**

**Siren: Ahh yes! Elwin is amazing, as is Dex and Marella and- hmm. I'm just frequently bored, have a lot of time on my hands, love writing, and the death threats probably help. Lol. Oh mallowmelt, that is terrifying. I would probably die if my parents read anything I wrote. And that actually sounds really interesting. 80,000 words is pretty good. And also I love love love proofreading things so... hint hint hint. No problem! If I had any confidence whatsoever in my ability to write original works I would brag about it as well. Lol. The heart thing is annoying.**

**Princess Book: Yayyyyyy! Scream all you want! Thanks! AND CAPS ARE AMAZING! Glad I'm (kinda) redeemed. Hmm... maybe. *Winks back***

**Elizabethornton: Yay! Both are very positive events, and fangirls are totally creepy. I can't believe you're comparing my fanfic to the real book, ahh! Thank you!**

**kotlc pj dam fan: OOOOOOOOOO! I'll try, thank you! And by the way I love your dam username.**

**SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: Because I am an evil author muahahahaha.**

**MeeIsFarrow101: Well... I'm forbidden to talk much about it, but I am in solitary confinement because everyone is during the pandemic. I originally wasn't allowed to bring anything, but after explaining that I had an entire fan base, I was allowed this chromebook.**

**MidnightBunnyy: Thank you! Hmm... anyway, yay! Gisela goes bye bye! Huzzah! Chandelier cracker... ugh, there are so many good nicknames for Fitz! Ritz Cracker, Chandelier Head, and Wonderboy. I can't choose, so I occasionally combine them. Personally, Wondercracker is a great nickname. Thanks! It is far too early.**

**Mallowmelt: Thanks!**

**Swiftie: Best quote, right up there with "Team Foster Keefe will always be cooler," and "WOAH, BACK THE T REX UP!" Lol. Thanks!**

**all i see is sky: She totally is. I'm kind of excited too... even though I don't quite know. But rest assured, he will _not _be joining the Neverseen again! Sokeefe 'tis amazing. Elwin is kind of a mood. And yes, it was! Bad Fitzy! Bad! Lol. I probably _will _prove you wrong though... oh well. I'll try! -A. Fan.**

**Enjoy!**

Sophie's first reaction was to celebrate. Internally, at least. One of their enemies was dead! Huzzah! Yay! One less thing to worry about! One less psychopath to kill them!

Her second reaction was to worry about Keefe.

With reason. The last time (he thought) his mother was dead, he freaked out, sank into a depression, became obsessed with sorting through memories, joined the Neverseen, and worst of all, _forgot to style his hair. _Excuse her, _Hair. _

"Keefe?" she said quietly, turning to look at him.

Keefe was breathing slowly and heavily, fists clenched. He was staring straight ahead, seemingly at nothing.

Elwin nudged Mr. Forkle. "Let's give them a moment," he muttered, dragging Mr. Forkle into his office.

"Keefe?" Sophie repeated.

"I'm fine," Keefe said finally. "It's fine. This is fine. I'm fine."

"Usually, when someone says they're fine, it means they're not," Sophie pointed out.

"I'm fine!" Keefe shouted. He took another deep breath. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I'm not mad at you. I'm just... mad."

"At?" Sophie prompted.

"What are you, a therapist?" Keefe joked, rolling his eyes slightly.

"No," Sophie corrected. She tried out the words. "I'm your girlfriend." It felt amazing to say that. "And as your girlfriend, it's my job to make sure you're okay."

Keefe smiled at the label. "I'm... okay? I guess? I'm a lot more okay than I was last time, in case you were worried about that."

"I was, actually," Sophie said, her mind returning to how awful it felt when Keefe joined the Neverseen. She knew that the guilt had made him reckless, and she wasn't mad at him... she just really didn't want to lose him like that again.

"Wow, I must be a telepath," Keefe joked. "That means we can be cognates! The Foster Keefe cognates will triumph over the Fitzphies! Come, let me stare into you eyes for hours and hours..." Sophie smiled. If Keefe was making Fitzphie cognate jokes, then it couldn't be _too _bad. Then again, he usually told jokes to cope with things...

"You know it's okay to be sad about her dying," Sophie said. "She was an evil murderous psychopath, but she was also your mom."

"I know," Keefe sighed. "But it's good that she's dead, right? Like, she deserved it. It's her fault Gigantor's- her fault Sandor's dead. It's her fault I was in a coma for months. It's her fault Tam was kidnapped a while ago. It's her fault that a lot of the bad stuff that's happened to us happened, so we should celebrate."

**(Requiem from Dear Evan Hansen starts playing.)**

"You're still allowed to be upset," Sophie told him.

"I'm not," Keefe argues. Sophie raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I am. I just... I don't know. I mean, she kind of died when we found out that she was evil. She hasn't been in my life as a mother since then, or even really before then. And, like... she would either be dead or in Exile when all this is over, and neither option is really good, so I guess... now I don't really have to think about her anymore."

"Okay," Sophie said.

**(Maybe okay will be our always... fine, I'll stop with the references.)**

"Honestly, I don't know how I feel," Keefe said. He laughed, but his amusement didn't sound genuine. "I'm an Empath and I have no idea how I feel. That's kind of ironic."

"Yeah." Sophie didn't really know what else to say, so, deciding that actions spoke louder than words, gathered enough courage to kiss him. Keefe's eyes widened in surprise, but he smiled.

"Sorry about making you listen to me ramble."

"I'm your girlfriend," Sophie said again. "It's my job to listen whenever you want to talk."

"Okay. So, um, thank you. For listening." Keefe ran his hand through his Hair- at least he wasn't leaving it unstyled again. Oh, that was horrifying. "I should probably go let Lord- I should probably go tell Dad about... yeah. You're sure you're okay from your electrocution?" Sophie nodded. "Okay. Don't die while I'm gone."

"Noted. Hail me if you need anything."

"Okay," Keefe said. He thanked her again before kissing her forehead and leaping away.

"ARE YOU KIDS DONE WITH YOUR ROMANCEY STUFF?" Mr. Forkle called. Sophie's lips twitched up.

"Yeah!" she called back.

Mr. Forkle emerged from Elwin's office. "Okay, so, I also need to talk to you about getting a new bodyguard."

Sophie felt like she had just been sucker punched by Biana, a fate worse than death. "No," she said.

"Sophie, we need to keep you safe-"

"I am not getting a replacement for Sandor!" Sophie yelled, tears rushing to her eyes. "We can't replace Sandor!"

"Sophie, I get that, but please be reasonable about this," Mr. Forkle argued.

"No," she repeated.

Mr. Forkle sighed. "All right, Sophie. If you're going to refuse a bodyguard, then we will need to insist that you stay safe. If you're not at home or at school, you must be with someone else who has a bodyguard- one of your friends. And I know that you definitely like breaking rules, but you cannot break this one."

"Okay," Sophie relented. She could live with those restrictions. She couldn't live with trying to replace Sandor, because nothing could ever do that.

"Okay. Elwin's going to make sure you're okay, and then you can go home."

"Great," Sophie sighed. She really did want to go home and see her parents. Elwin walked over and and did some weird Flasher stuff before declaring her "as fine as she ever is." Sophie took out her home crystal and leapt to Havenfield. Her mom and dad greeted her with tears, hugs, and mallowmelt before having the same argument about bodyguards that she had just had with Mr. Forkle.

It was nice to be with her parents, but the house felt wrong without seeing Sandor stand guard. Without hearing him stomp around and lecture Sophie in his squeaky voice. Nothing felt right now that Sandor, the annoying goblins constant in her life, was de- gone.

Eventually, Sophie decided that even though she had spent nearly a full day unconscious, she was exhausted, both mentally and physically. After eating a final piece of mallowmelt and telling her parents that she loved them, Sophie went to bed.

Despite being tired, Sophie found that she couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she could see the two battles that she had just been through. Over and over again. And she especially kept seeing Sandor crumpled on the ground, and the blood-

Yeah. Sleep wasn't going to happen.

If Sophie wasn't going to sleep, she was at least going to be productive, she decided. She threw off her covers and got a piece of paper and a pencil.

_Neverseen Members, _she wrote, underlining it as the title.

_Fintan: Still a threat._

_Gisela: Dead._

_Ruy: Powers not working, but still an active member, so threat._

_Vespera: Threat._

_Gethen: Threat._

_Trix: Threat._

Sophie thought about the members that Blur and Axel had mentioned during their interrogation. Other than the Mesmer Gemma, who was arrested, Sophie had no idea if any of them were alive or not, or if they were arrested. She hailed Mr. Forkle- honestly, it wouldn't surprise her if he was up this late as well.

As it turned out, he was, and gave her all of the information she needed- and corrected her on Trix's status: he had been arrested after the battle at Gildingham.

_Mesmer (Gemma): Arrested._

_Conjurer: Dead_

_Voiciforater: Dead_

_Guster #1: Threat_

_Guster: #2: Arrested._

_Beguiler: Arrested._

_Charger: Threat._

_Fluctuator: Threat._

_Vanisher: Dead._

There was also Alvar, but if he wasn't dead yet, he probably would be soon. Definitely not one of the threats. Sophie counted up everyone that she had listed as a threat: Fintan, Ruy, Vespera, Gethen, one of the Gusters, a Charger, and a Fluctuator. Seven. Plus whatever members they had that were of another species or that Blur and Axel didn't know about- but still. Seven wasn't a very big number.

They could do this.

They could survive this.

They could win this.

**But can they? Guess you'll have to wait for a lot of incredibly slow updates before you find out!**

**In honor of Pride month, I am ordering you to go read some Uncanonical Gay Fanfiction (copyright Abubble123, 2020). **

**Please review!**


	38. Chapter 36

**Hola!**

**Crowd- You can speak Spanish now?**

**Me- Uh... si? **

**Anyway, this chapter has cHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FOR STINA! AHHHH! I have no idea how to develop characters, so that's bad, but Stina has potential for AMAZING character development, so that's good. It's also got some stuff about Gemma (the Mesmer) because why not. Oh! And a cliffhanger!**

**starryglass: Um... okay? We do, honestly. AND NOTHING IS BETTER THAN MALLOWMELT I WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH FOR MY BELIEFS!**

**Lady Kiddo: I don't know. Maybe because it's making Keefe sad? **

**KotlcForeverandever: Yay! Lol, I do that sometimes. "HEY! LAMP! WHY DON'T YOU SHIP SOKEEFE!? YOU ARE DEAD TO ME NOW!" XD. Thank you!**

**Swiftheart1267: Uncanonical gay fanfiction is the best. Thanks! I mostly made the list for my own reference, but then I realized that it was totally the kind of thing Sophie would do, so I included it! Probably good for the readers to also see how the Black Swan is doing so they can have a better idea of what's going on. I'll try to be fast! ~A. Fan.**

**Elizabethornton: Thanks! Hahaha, I will probably crush those hopes very soon.**

**SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: Thanks!**

**MarellaIsTheBest: Hmmmmmmm... nothing at all. Definitely.**

**Siren: Ooh! What series? And yes, they are adorable. I actually made the list for my own reference and then realized that it was the kind of thing Sophie would do, lol. We might be able to work something out over PM? Oh no, the parents! Ahhhh! Good luck. My advice if they say no: Come up with a pen name, publish under the pen name, and hope that your parents don't find it in a library/bookstore. I haven't, thanks for the recommendations!**

**Princess Book: Nice... scream? Aw, I'm sorry. Yay! BYE BYE GISELA! But yeah, I do kind of feel bad for Keefe. And yay the kiss! Oh. Wow. Um. Shady Black Belt Protection Squad, assemble! Thanks! **

**Sky: Sorry... hmm. Lol. I'm glad you think so! Good job, Keefe. Please don't leave for the Neverseen. And yep, Requiem is perfect! Mr. Forkle is totally a mood. Yeah, Sophie, don't jinx it! Seriously. I'll try. Happy Pride month!**

**FlowerGirl15: I'm glad you liked it! Don't worry, I will definitely crush all the hopes later. As for Keefe, you'll find out! ;) But thanks!**

"Ready for a _looooong_ day of interrogations?" Stina asked, rolling her eyes.

Sophie looked down at the piece of paper she had, containing the list of all of the Neverseen members. She had give everyone two days to recover from the battle at Gildingham before gathering Team Valiant and giving everyone their tasks.

Biana, Dex, and Wylie were going over the tactics and weapons that the Neverseen used and how to counter them more effectively. At the time she had left them, Biana was explaining the value of sucker punches and how the Black Swan would benefit from giving one to everyone.

Stina and Sophie, on the other hand, were going to interrogate everyone on her list who had been categorized as arrested. All of them were in Carcerem for the time being, but Sophie thought that at least a few of them would be moved to Exile after their Tribunals. The Tribunals would be taking place in a few weeks.

"Yeah," Sophie agreed in a monotone. "Interrogations. Fun."

"Who are we very funly interrogating first?" Stina asked.

The corners of Sophie's mouth twitched up. "First of all, 'funly' isn't a word-"

"Whatever, Lady Fos-Boss," Stina muttered. Sophie laughed, which made Stina laugh.

And then Sophie realized something.

She was laughing and joking around with Stina Heks.

Stina Heks, who she first met because Sophie's best friend removed her hair. Stina Heks, who made fun of her best friend for being a bad match. Stina Heks, who told her that she was going to be sent to Exillium. Stina Heks, who Sophie had really hated, and then disliked, and then tolerated, and then...

Were they almost friends now?

Sophie decided to ask. Well, indirectly. But sort of allude to that 'We don't quite hate each other, what has happened to the universe?' thing. "I'm sorry I laughed at you," Sophie apologized. "When we met in Slurps and Burps. I'm sorry I laughed at your hair- or, lack of it, I guess."

Stina's eyes widened. Sophie didn't have to be a telepath to know that that was the _last _thing Stina expected her to say. "Oh. Um. No problem. I guess it was, kind of, funny, in retrospect. I mean, I would totally laugh at you if you went bald- no offense."

"None taken," Sophie smiled. "And I'm sorry I formed an opinion on you based on what I heard from Dex and Biana and Marella, and proceeded to hate you for years."

"To be fair, Dex had every right to convince you to hate me. I was pretty awful to him." Stina frowned. "I should probably apologize to him too."

"Yeah, probably," Sophie agreed. "But I'm sure he'd be okay with it. He's a pretty nice person."

"Good," Stina said quietly. "I'm, um, I'm sorry I was rude to you."

"That's okay," Sophie replied. "Once people started trying to kill me, some teasing at school didn't really seem important anymore."

Stina laughed. "Okay."

"So, ready to do this?"

"Not really, no," Stina answered.

Sophie made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sigh. "Yeah, neither am I." She pulled out an eyelash before taking a deep breath and pushing open the door. "Ugh!" she exclaimed upon realizing that it was actually a pull door.

Another deep breath. Another eyelash out. Sophie pulled open the door.

To further destroy her image of a competent, confident person who actually knew what the mallowmelt they were doing, Sophie managed to trip over her own feet. Stina didn't help her, but at least she didn't laugh.

Sophie kept her eyes on the ground so that she wouldn't have to look at all of the people who were probably wishing she was dead, but stopped when she walked into a wall. _Nice job, Sophie. _Once her eyes were actually looking at her surroundings, she noticed the goblin.

_That was Sandor's job, _Sophie thought, feeling years prick her eyes. Sandor was supposed to protect them while they were interrogating the Neverseen. Not... whoever the council assigned.

Sophie knew she had made the right decision in refusing a new bodyguard. No matter how unsafe it was, there was no way she would ever be able to look at her new bodyguard and not think of Sandor, and not get mad that they were replacing him.

And then she reminded herself that she was in a Neverseen prison, and she had to look at least mildly threatening, so now was _really_ not the time to start crying.

Stina gave her a concerned look, and that almost made Sophie snort. Stina Heks, _concerned about her. _What a bizarre day.

"Who's first on our list?" Stina asked.

Sophie looked down at the list. With her photographic memory, she didn't need to, but she wanted to stall. "Um... Gemma. She's their Mesmer." _And it's her fault Sandor died, _Sophie finished in her head, feeling her eyes well again.

"She's over there," said Not Sandor the goblin, pointing over to a cell that, sure enough, had a girl easily recognized as Gemma. Not Sandor had a squeaky voice too.

_Shut up, sad part of brain! _Sophie told herself. _You have a job to do! _"Great. Um. Thank you," she stammered, unable to look Not Sandor in the eye, before walking over to Gemma's cell. Ever the confident fearsome interrogator, Sophie said "Um, hi, um, I'm Sophie and this is Stina, and we're going to be asking you about the Neverseen, and we'll know if you're lying so you shouldn't lie, and also I'm an inflictor. So. Um. Yeah. Hi."

"Eloquent," Stina muttered.

"Shut up!"

Gemma did not look impressed. "Sure. Whatever."

Sophie's eyelashes were practically begging her to tug one. She tightly clasped her hands together to stop herself. "Okay, great. When did you manifest as a Mesmer?" she asked, glad to finally be forming coherent sentences.

"About a month before Foxfire opened up again."

"Stina?" Sophie asked for confirmation that Gemma was telling the truth. Stina nodded.

"Okay. Were you part of the Neverseen prior to that?" Sophie asked.

"No," Gemma answered. Stina gave Sophie a thumbs up.

"When did you join the Neverseen, then?"

"About a week after I manifested."

"Why?"

Gemma stayed silent.

"She's an inflictor," Stina reminder her.

"Yeah," Sophie added unhelpfully.

"Fine. No one trusted me once I was a Mesmer. A man named Fintan told me that he was going to get justice for people with abilities that elves scorned. That sounded like a great idea to me. So I joined."

Sophie had heard about some of the struggles that Mesmers faced from Grady. She felt kind of bad for Gemma, but then remembered that the Mesmer was the reason Sandor died. "Did you know anything about the Black Swan before joining the Neverseen?"

"No."

"Stina?"

"She's telling the truth."

"Once you joined the Neverseen, what did the other members tell you about the Black Swan?" Sophie asked.

"That they were a threat. That they were the main thing standing between us and our goal."

"When you attacked Candleshade, what was your reason for Mesmerizing me to make me stay still? Did you mean to get the throwing star thrown at me? Did you want me to die, or were you trying to kill Sa-" Sophie swallowed. "-Someone else?"

"I Mesmerized you to stop you from fighting us," Gemma answered. "And when I saw the throwing star I didn't stop because I didn't see a reason to let you live. You were the enemy. And you were trying to kill us."

"Yeah, because you-" Sophie started, before sighing. "Never mind. Okay, so, when you first joined, did you know about the terrible things that the Neverseen did?"

"Terrible things?"

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Arson. Gnome genocide. Attempted murder. Actual murder. Destroying Lumenaria. Trying to destroy the homes of each of the species. Et cetera. When did you learn about this stuff?"

"Not when I first joined," Gemma answered. "And once I did, I was aware that it was the only way."

"It's _not- _whatever. Okay. Last question. If you could go back to when you manifested, with full knowledge of everything that happened after, would you make a different choice?"

"Yes," Gemma answered.

Sophie opened her mouth to say something, but Stina interrupted. "She's lying."

Stina and Sophie looked at each other for a while, silently. "Okay. We'll come back to you later," Sophie said finally.

"Who's next on our list?" Stina asked.

Sophie looked down at her paper. "Some Guster. His name is something like... Donald." **(A/N: Definitely not based on some sort of dictator or anything, haha, what are you talking about?)**

"Okay. Do we have any idea who he is?"

Sophie looked around. The only people in Carcerem were Blur, Axel, Gemma, and two other people, one of which had to be Donald. The other unnamed person was female, so she probably was not the Guster. That left... "That one, I think."

"Great, let's go," Stina said.

The two walked over and Sophie gave a (hopefully more eloquent) introduction. After talking to the Guster, they went over to the Beguiler- Shrivani. Or Silver. She was the one that recruited Glimmer to the Neverseen. Both had reasons for joining the Neverseen- Donald had a personal hatred for a few of the Councillors, and Shrivani wanted to take revenge after being banished. Neither had any especially helpful information, to Sophie's disappointment. For the last part of the interrogation, she needed all five Neverseen members together.

"Okay, so, Stina and I are going to ask you about the Neverseen's plans for-" Sophie stopped short when a strawberry blond blur ran into the room.

"Sophie! Sophie, we figured out the password for Fintan's cache, come _on_!"

**Oh. Um. Yes. I ended it there.**

**What?**

**Okay, sorry. (But not really!) **

**The climax is clearly coming soon. AND THEN IT'LL BE OVER SOON AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

**Okay, had to get that out of my system.**

**As for the climax... MUAHAHAHAHAHA! That's all I'm going to say about it.**

**Oh, guess what?**

**Crowd- No one cares.**

**I put all of the chapters, A/N's excluded, into wordcounter-dot-net, and the number really surprised me.**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

_**47,199.**_

**THAT'S A LOT OF WORDS! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! That's nearly novel length! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

**Ahem. Okay. Please review!**


	39. Chapter 37

**Hello! Sorry for the wait.**

**Crowd- They're used to it by now.**

**Me- Probably, but I apologize every time.**

**Crowd- You apologize a lot.**

**Me- Sorry.**

***Crickets***

**KOTLCLover: I did not (though good idea...) But seriously, that's an amazing compliment. Thank you so much!**

**HernameisBurrito: It shall! Fitzelier is pretty awesome. Thanks! But I'll have to ask you not to curse in my reviews.**

**Siren: Woah! Signed in! Lol. I'll put it on my ever growing to-be-read list. I honestly don't hate Stina... I don't like her yet, but I love her character's potential for development and did my best to include that development. Thanks!**

**Lilac: Haha- *laughter turns to tears***

**SokeefeWillAlwyasBeBetter: Oops, sorry! Lol.**

**Elizabethornton: Thanks! You'll find out!**

**MarellaIsTheBest: I did! Ahh, it terrifies me too! Thank you! Um... yes... um... sorry... SHADY BLACK BELT PROTECTION SQUAD, ASSEMBLE!**

**Mallowmelt: Thanks! I really hope to see that in the real thing. EEEEEE!**

**Sky: Huzzah! Me too- I hope Shannon does something like that too! I do the door thing all the time too, you're not alone- *Dear Evan Hansen starts playing* *Family groans* Ahh! Yeah! I make no promises... excellent use of the word! I like the logic. It's almost novel length, albeit a short novel. Thanks! -A. Fan.**

**Swiftie: Um... indeed I did? Sorry? I'll try but not really? But thanks!**

**Princess Books Rule: I AM PRETTY EVIL, MUAHAHA! You'll find out. Thanks! I don't think it's too weird- I loved writing it, but I'm hardly a standard of normalcy (unless the standard for normalcy is "don't be like her."). It's crazy to me too, but we still have a bit left! Sorry about the wait, in advance.**

**KotLCfan: I guess, yeah.**

**Quarantinesux: Good response. She does, kind of.**

**hxneydew: I cannot even begin to fathom the craziness of the GGI, hopefully Shannon has a better answer than me.**

**Okay, enjoy!**

"What's the password?" Sophie asked, out of breath from running to Dex's room after leaping to Rimshire.

"Genocide," he told her. The cache in his hand glowed.

Sophie hesitated. "Um... should we get the rest of the Black Swan here when we open it? Not just Team Valiant?" she suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Dex agreed. "Should we meet at the stairs hideout?"

"No!" Sophie exclaimed, nearly shouting. Those _stairs... _she couldn't bear the thought. Especially after being electrocuted... see! She had a valid excuse to not climb the stairs- she had recently had a health problem! That was much more reasonable than claiming that she had chronic laziness, even though she totally did.

"Okay... um... probably not here. We don't want the triplets coming in and pelting Mr. Forkle with snowballs or something."

Sophie laughed at the thought. It would be pretty funny to see, but Dex was right, probably not the best idea. "What about that other hideout, the one we saw a while ago? Where we found out that Jensi joined? It was called... um... Kyknos! Yeah. It was called Kyknos, because that's the Greek word for Swan."

"Wait, wasn't that the haunted house one?" Biana asked.

"What haunted house one?" said Stina.

"Yes, and it's a Black Swan hideout that's really creepy," Sophie explained. "I'll hail Mr. Forkle and tell him to organize a meeting?" she suggested.

The others nodded, and Sophie gave them a thumbs up. "Okay, I'll see you all then. Dex, can you hold on to the cache?"

"Biana, can you take it? I don't want something that valuable in the same house as the triplets."

Biana grinned. "Yeah, that's a good point." Dex handed the cache to her and she squeezed it tightly.

"Am I coming to the haunted hideout?" Stina asked. "Since I'm not part of the Black Swan?"

Sophie thought about it. A while ago, she would have been thrilled about an opportunity to be Stina-free, but now that they were almost sort of friends... "Sure. Since you're part of Team Valiant, it's probably okay."

Stina smiled. "Awesome. Thanks."

"Any other questions?" Sophie said. Everyone shook their head. "Great! I'll see you guys later."

A few hours, too many hails, and not nearly enough (though according to Edaline, too many) pieces of mallowmelt later, the collective, Sophie's parents, bodyguards that definitely didn't make her think of Sandor, Team Valiant, her boyfriend, Fitz, Linh, Tam, Marella, Glimmer, and Jensi were all gathered in the haunted house- um, Kyknos. Sophie's increasingly sweaty hand was clutching the cache. Mr. Forkle was the first person to speak.

"So, Miss Foster, you said it was important that I gather the Black Swan."

Sophie's mouth felt suddenly dry. "Yeah. Um. Yes."

Thankfully, Mr. Forkle ignored her depressing display of awkwardness. "What do you need?"

"Um," Sophie said eloquently. _Words, Sophie. _"Dex, Biana, and Stina figured out the password to Fintan's cache. I'm going to try mimicking to open it."

Mr. Forkle nodded. "All right. Go ahead."

"Genocide," said Sophie, in her best Fintan voice. Everyone held their breath as they waited. The cache glowed, and then... nothing.

"That didn't really sound like his voice," Marella said finally.

Sophie tugged at an eyelash and nodded. "Okay. I'll try again." She cleared her throat. "Genocide."

It glowed a little brighter, but still, nothing.

"Do you want me to-" Keefe started.

"No!" Sophie exclaimed. "Um. No. I got it." She didn't want to start remembering his voice, but it didn't seem like she had a choice- she wouldn't be able to mimic his voice without hearing his voice in her head. _Our world is broken, and all the Council does about it is condemn anyone brave enough to acknowledge that we have a problem, _his stupid voice whispered. She wanted to scream, hearing that voice. The memory of flames tickled her skin.

"Sophie, you okay?" Biana asked, nudging her.

Sophie swallowed. "Yeah. Fine."

The next time she said _genocide, _she got his voice perfect. The cache glowed brighter and brighter, before Fintan was projected on the wall. Sophie ripped out another eyelash, and saw Marella squeezing Linh's hand.

In the same voice that had tormented Sophie just moments ago, Fintan started "Your name is Fintan Pyren. You have the ability to control fire, which the Council condemns you for, but they are fools." Everyone in the group exchanged confused looks. "In fact, those fools are probably the ones who erased your memory."

The confused looks went away as everyone came to the realization that he recorded this so that he would know his plans, even if his memories were taken away.

"There are many intelligent species in the world. You are an elf, the most intelligent of all. Humans used to be an intelligent species, but they were kicked out after a violation of a treaty. However, elves still helped these humans with our knowledge, resulting in great inventions like chocolate cake. And electricity. But mostly chocolate cake. This was known as the Human Assistance Program.

"The Human Assistance Program ended after the second world war between humans. Those monsters had abused their knowledge that the elves had given them, and created atomic bombs that caused destruction and devastation like the world had never seen before. Even after the program ended, humans continued to destroy the world. Their factories and cars released gasses that are thickening the atmosphere, trapping heat, and warming the planet- the details are unimportant. The point is, our world would be far better off if humans were unable to interfere, and many elves agreed with me.

"A movement began. Humans, the most destructive to our world, had been allowed to take nearly all of it while elves went into hiding, and it isn't right. The movement was to trap humans in a sanctuary, similar to what our endangered species have. The council, who refuses to believe that any problems could arise in our world, disagreed with this movement, and ended it. Or so they thought. Those who supported the movement went underground, and became known as the Neverseen. You are the leader of the Neverseen. And as the leader, you came up with an alternative solution to the Human Sanctuary. It would be easier, and more effective."

Sophie knew what the word was going to be, even before he said it.

"Genocide."

"Are the memories coming back yet? I'll keep explaining your plan for genocide."

"This feels like a trap," Fitz noted.

Keefe shrugged. "So? We can fight them anyway."

Resting her hand on his, Sophie said "Keefe. We're not walking into a trap." Transmitting, she added _Don't let the grief make you reckless again. I can't lose you another time. _

Keefe smiled a little bit as Sophie added "Anyway, I don't think it's a trap. He wouldn't have expected us to find the cache, after all."

"True..." Dex pointed out.

"You kids should be quiet and listen."

Everyone obeyed Mr. Forkle, for the first and last time in history.

"If all goes as planned, it will take place on-" Cache-Fintan rattled off a list of weird sounds, that everyone except Sophie seemed to understand perfectly.

"Elvin calendar," Linh whispered, seeing Sophie's confusion. She nodded her thanks.

"-At the Point of Purity. The place where sunlight, starlight, and moonlight meet. And that's where the plan will go into effect. The most efficient way to wipe out the human race is with a virus. **(A/N: I'm sorry. I had this planned before the coronavirus, so...) **Elves are immune, as are most other species, but it's deadly to humans within a day of when symptoms begin to show. The thing is, symptoms don't show for up to three weeks, so it will spread astonishingly quickly. Within a few months, almost all humans will be gone- and the rest can be taken care of easily."

The projection shut off, and the room went silent.

They had all of the information they needed to stop the Neverseen, once and for all.

Now they just needed to see how it would go down.

**Heyyyyyyyyy, look at that, not a cliffhanger! Don't get used to it, though.**

**Part of me wants to work on all of the chapters now, so you guys don't have to wait, but the other part wants to put off the last chapters as long as possible to make the story last. AHH! HELP ME!**

**Ahem. Okay. Anyway...**

**Um...**

**What'd you guys think of Fintan's eViL pLaN!? I liked how his villain monologue wasn't the cliche I-am-going-to-reveal-my-entire-plan-because-I-am-an-arrogant-moron speech, but rather something he recorded for himself in case he lost his memory, which the Black Swan then hacked into. Look at me, complimenting myself. And we probably can blame Fintan for coronavirus, except his is more deadly and spreads even more effectively.**

**It's called... the fintonavirus. FIVID-19. No toilet paper. Online school. Lots of parodies (check out Hamilton Randomness!)**

**Okay, that's all. Please review!**


	40. Chapter 38

**So, a lot of my reviewers have said "You predicted the coronavirus!" But actually, I really didn't. When I was planning this whole thing out, I was researching the most effective methods of human extinction (this week's episode of "My search history: I swear I'm a writer!"), and there seemed to be an agreement that a virus would work the best, so that's what I wrote.**

**I just managed the details better after a real pandemic came around and I knew more about epidemiology.**

**FlowerGirl15: Yes, the most deadly of them all. I mean, I don't like humans either... blech. Thanks! :)**

**KotlcForeverandever: I know, but it's the best fanfiction I've ever written and I don't want it to end...**

**Fitzphieistrash: Ooo indeed.**

**Lady Kiddo: Yes, FIVID-19. Get it right. We all want to murder him XD.**

**KotLCfan: Don't get used to it XD. Thanks! Glad you liked it. :)**

**IShipWayTooManyShips: Yeah, true... we do! And I totally agree lol. Quarantine has made us all stupid, don't worry. Don't get used to the cliffhanger disappearance! ;) The problem is that I have to write those chapters... blech. AHH! DON'T COUGH! HAS THE FINTONAVIRUS GOTTEN TO YOU!? Lol. Thanks!**

**Kotlclover: Thank you! :) :) :) Team Foster Keefe is awesome! Thanks! It's taken a ****_lot _****of practice to get to this point (Legacy What Is A Legacy... *shudders*). Part of writing is sadism, sorry. But not really. Hehe. I'm glad you like my terrible humor XD. And I'm very self depricating, don't insult my self-deprication! Lol the fintonavirus. No problem- I love long reviews, especially ones that are full of compliments! :P As for Diana, we'll see... muahaha. And thank you again for the wonderful review!**

**Lady Kiddo: I KNOW, RIGHT!? Thanks!**

**thesirensong: Genocide is my favorite! (Sarcasm as well.) Mine would probably be from some sort of inside joke, because I have a ****_lot _****of those, and none of them make any sense. Oof. Good luck getting to see Fall Out Boy! Off topic is my favorite. Smart villains are the best! FIVID-19 is over course canon. Thanks!**

**Elizabethornton: Yay, thanks! I'm glad it wasn't cliche *melts in non-cliche author.***

**Moonlight: I'm sorry, I don't have ao3. But you can read it here! Thanks!**

**Sky: wE'rE aLL iNsAnE hErE! Lol. I know, right? It's like we're living in a dystopia... I'm a little mad that I didn't think of this, honestly. If it turns out to be just a hallucination, I'm writing a book about this and earning bajillions. Anyway. I'm glad it makes sense! I was proud of myself for that. I know, right? I'm in shock. Novel length was my initial goal for the book, but I didn't think I'd get there. Thanks! I'll try.**

**Mallowmelt: Yep! Climax!**

**MarellaIsTheBest: Sorry! Not really though. Haha, yeah. DOWN WITH CLICHES! MUAHAHA! Writer's block is endless... *dies*. Thanks!**

**Princess Book: tYpInG lIkE tHiS iS oCaSiOnAlLy FuN iN mOdErAtIoN! Lol. Glad you approve of the fintonavirus! Glad you approve of it. Maybe in this chapter... I do need filler stuff (I respond to reviews before writing the chapters if you couldn't tell). Never underestimate my evilness! Muahaha. I love long reviews! Thanks! I'll try.**

**Swiftheart1267: Lol, thanks!**

**MidnightBunnyy: ARGH! SORRY! ****_Obviously _****there is never enough mallowmelt. We will never be satisfied! Thanks for the points! And hey, fintonavirus is a great name! And how did you know about the cliffhangers... OH SHOOT I'VE GIVEN MYSELF AWAY! SHADY BLACK BELT PROTECTION SQUAD, ASSEMBLE!**

**Ooh! Speaking of the Shady Black Belt Protection Squad, we have a new member! My good friend... um... we'll call her Tree (if you knew her, you would find this very funny) just got her black belt yesterday! I'm sure she'd be thrilled to hear that my internet stalkers are proud of her, so give Tree your congratulations!**

**Quick huzzah for 19,000 views! And 25 favorites! This is incredible, thank you guys all so much! You're the best fans a minor fanfiction author could ask for! :)**

**This is a crazy long A/N, so I'm just gonna go into the chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

The buzz of chatter around the room faded, and Sophie couldn't help but tug at an eyelash when she realized that everyone was staring at her. "What?" she almost whined, sounding very leader-ish.

"What do you think we should do?" Stina asked.

"Why are you asking me?" Sophie protested. After all, Mr. Forkle was there- he was the official leader! Sophie was just a teenage girl.

"Because you're the moonlark," Glimmer answered, like it was obvious. Maybe it was.

"That doesn't mean I'm qualified to make these decisions!" Sophie pulled out another eyelash, wanting to scream. She took a deep breath before she actually did start screaming. "What do you guys think we should do?"

"I think we should fight them," said Keefe, looking almost happy about it. Sophie reminded herself that his mother's death had definitely made him more reckless and looking for a fight. She made a mental note to talk to him later.

"I think we should only do that if it's our last option," Sophie said, trying to keep her voice calm. A small part of her noticed that she was definitely acting like a leader now- it seemed like she didn't have a choice. She didn't ask to become the moonlark, she didn't ask for this responsibility, but she had it. So she might as well do a good job of acting like a leader.

Keefe rolled his eyes. "We already know that we're going to go through all of the other options, and none of them are going to work, and we're going to end up fighting anyway. I'm just saving us time."

"For once, I actually agree with Keefe," Tam said. Linh gave him an incredulous (and slightly teasing) look.

Sophie locked her hands together tightly to resist pulling out another eyelash. "You have a bit of a point, but if we fight and it goes horribly wrong, I'll spend the rest of my life feeling guilty and wishing that we had at least thought of another option." Transmitting, she added _I know you're upset about your mom, Keefe, but please don't let that make you reckless again. You're mom wanted you to make these sort of decisions... and I want just the opposite. _

Keefe let out a long sigh and glanced at her. She stared back. _Okay, _he transmitted finally, and Sophie wanted to cheer and hug him and maybe even kiss him, but she kind of had to act professional.

"So, that date that Fintan said, with the elvin calendar... you're probably all aware that I don't know much about the elvin world, so when exactly is it? Just so I have sort of a timeline."

Everyone else in the room glanced at each other, clearly uncomfortable. Sophie was just about to ask why, when Fitz spoke up. "It's... well... it's in about three days."

Despite there being adults in the room, adults who could definitely punish her, Sophie couldn't help but yell out a lot of words that she definitely shouldn't say. _Three days?! _Keefe's recklessness seemed a little more appealing- she was somewhat doubtful that fighting would work with so little time to prepare! Any other solution was hopeless.

She took a deep breath, realizing that she probably shouldn't freak out on the people who were depending on her. "Okay. Okay. We can do this. Right?"

With varying levels of enthusiasm- from Linh's optimistic demeanor to Tam's sarcastic agreement- the word "right" echoed around the room.

Sophie took another deep breath. She would get through this meeting, and then she would get through whatever happened with the fintanvirus,**(Stop, stop, stop, you're going to take somebody's eye out! It's _fintonavirus_!) **and then she would worry about the rest of her life... though a life where she didn't have to worry about the Neverseen seemed almost impossible to comprehend. But the point was, she would get through this.

Maybe.

"So, does anyone have any ideas other than fighting?" Sophie asked.

_"You're _the Fos-Bos. You tell us," Stina replied.

Sophie barely kept from screaming. "Yeah, I'm the Fos-Bos, but the point of me being your boss is that the rest of you are part of my 'team,' and that means that you're expected to contribute! Now, does anyone have any other ideas?"

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Dex eventually said "Well... there's a chance that his cache has some more information about the virus... and maybe we could use that information for a cure?"

Sophie shrugged. "Worth a try. Anyone have any ideas for a password?"

"Virus, maybe?" Biana suggested. "Or similar things, like disease or pandemic?"

Sophie tried all three of those, in a voice that everyone agreed sounded like Fintan's, but none of them worked. Not wanting to waste much more time, Sophie said "Dex, you can take the cache and work on it a little more later... if you want to start working on a cure, you should probably consult Elwin and/or Physic." Dex nodded. "Other ideas?"

"So, Fintan mentioned that he was going to be doing this at the Point of Purity, right?" Wylie said. "How does he expect to get there? I thought only councillors could."

"Fintan used to be a councillor," Sophie reminded him. "So he probably knows how to get there, and maybe he still has the key or whatever they use."

"Could the councillors disable the- however you get to this place I have never before heard of in my life?" Jensi asked.

Sophie considered this. "I guess I could hail Ora- I could hail Bronte and ask." Dex gave her a disapproving look, and Keefe gave her a look like _Since when have you preferred Councillor Grumpypants to Oralie? _She remembered that she hadn't told anyone except Dex, Fitz, and her parents of her shared DNA with Oralie, and made another mental note to tell Keefe later before pushing that thought aside.

A quick hail proved that no, it was not possible nor was it allowed to disable the giant hamster ball thing that got them to the Point of Purity. Sophie at least waited until she hung up before swearing.

The group discussed some more options, but none of them seemed even remotely in the realm of possibility. After a few hours of talking and getting nowhere, the Black Swan was forced to conclude that they would be fighting.

Keefe kindly refrained from any "I told you so"s.

For the next three days, Sophie didn't sleep at all. She only ate when Edaline forced her, and took breaks when her lungs forced her. All of the rest of the time was spent training. They had done okay at Gildingham, but this time they needed to do better than okay. They didn't just need to survive. They needed to _win. _Sophie's friends joined in on the training too, of course, but didn't push themselves to quite the extreme that Sophie did. After one particularly vigorous workout, Sophie asked Keefe to stay behind, remembering that she needed to talk to him.

"Hey," she panted.

Keefe gave her a small smile. "Hey."

"Can we... can we sit down?" Sophie gasped, taking his hand (AHHHH!) and leading him over to the Panakes tree. He nodded, and the two took a seat. Sophie immediately flopped onto her back, and Keefe followed suit. "How are you doing?"

"I'm... okay, I guess."

"Great, how about we try that again with the truth?"

She heard Keefe laugh. "Wow, Foster, you're turning into an Empath." Sophie wished the words didn't make her think of Oralie. With all that had been going on lately, her recent parental discoveries had taken a bit of a backseat, but rage still bubbled up in her whenever she thought about the Councillor That Shall Not Be Named, along with something else that she couldn't quite identify.

"Yeah, so answer the question."

"I'm... I'm kind of just mad. At the world. But the training and stuff is helping, actually. And I'm doing better than I was when we first got the news."

Sophie smiled, guessing that he was telling the truth this time. "I'm glad you're doing a bit better, at least. And I know I've told you a million times, but please don't do something reckless. You can hail me anytime, and I'll always be willing to talk or distract you or something, just refrain from extraordinarily stupid decisions."

"Okay, Foster. I'm not going to run off and join the Neverseen again- you can trust me on that. I may not be the smartest, but I'm really trying to learn from my mistakes."

"I know," Sophie said. "I trust you." They fell silent.

"Foster, I can still feel your emotions. You wanted to talk about something else. What is it?"

Sophie tugged at an eyelash. "Well... um... do you remember when I told you that I was unmatchable?"

"Yeah," Keefe said.

"And I really wanted to find my biological parents so that I could be matched with Fitz?"

"Yeah."

"Well... just before Fitz and I broke up... I... I found out who my biological mother is." Keefe stayed silent, waiting for her to continue. "It's... um... you have to promise not to tell anyone."

"I promise."

"Councillor Oralie," Sophie whispered.

Keefe took a few seconds to process the news. "That makes a lot of sense. And, so, I take it you told the Fitzy... and..."

"He wanted me to tell the matchmakers," Sophie said. "And I refused to ruin Oralie's life like that. So we decided that... that it couldn't work." Keefe nodded, and another worrying thought came into Sophie's head.

"What?" Keefe asked. _Stupid Empaths._

"Um..." Sophie started, eloquent as always. "I know that being a 'good match' was a really big deal to Fitz. Do you...?"

Keefe seemed to get the question without her finishing it, and he laughed. "No. Foster, I know you worry about everything, but you don't have to worry about that. I mean, since when have I cared about Lord Pretentious's reputation?" Keefe rested his hand on top of hers, and his voice suddenly got softer, more serious. "And besides, Sophie, I love you more than names on a piece of paper. I love you more than elvin society can hate us. I love you more than anything, Sophie."

"I love you too," Sophie said, feeling like a ginormous weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

"So how are you feeling, Foster?" Keefe asked. "I know you're stressed about the fight that we're getting ourselves into."

And, it felt like another giant weight had just crushed Sophie. "Yeah," she said, that tiny word not even coming close to conveying her level of anxiety.

"We're going to win," Keefe said, nothing but confidence in his voice. "For one thing, I'm pretty sure we outnumber them. And also... we have a really amazing group. Like, Biana's a queen. Remember what she did to Gemma? And Dex can make the coolest stuff for us, I bet the Neverseen can't even come close. Fitz can do his cognate thing with you, and I'm not jealous of that anymore. Marella and Linh are both, like, scarily powerful. Bangs Boy can do the weird shadowfluxy stuff- and remember how long you and Fitz were in the healing center? The Neverseen is doomed if he does that to them. Glimmer and Wylie can both do really cool stuff with light, and Glimmer probably knows the Neverseen's strengths and weaknesses and stuff. Jensi's really, really good with skills. Maruca's a psionapath- remember how them having Ruy meant doom for us? Now we have a psionopath and they don't- this is awesome! We also have like, Grady the Mesmer, and all of the other adults who are super talented. And I have the weird stealing ability thing, which means that I can have any of the abilities they have. And you, Sophie, are incredibly powerful- I have no doubt that you can defeat them all single-handedly, and you're not single-handed- you also have all of these amazing allies that I just listed. We are going to win. Okay?"

"Okay," Sophie answered.

She got a decent amount of sleep the next night, to everyone's surprise. At approximately the crack of dawn, Grady and Edaline shook her awake. Sophie opened her mouth to complain when they first came in, but as soon as she remembered what day it was, Sophie was wide awake.

"Hey, kiddo," Grady greeted her.

"Hi," Sophie replied. A weird feeling was encompassing her- a lot of it was nerves, but there was also the indescribable emotion one gets when they know that, no matter what happens, everything will be different after that day.

Whether they won or lost, Sophie had no doubt that everything would change.

"You ready for today?" Edaline asked.

"No."

"You've got this."

Sophie attacked both of her parents with hugs. "I love you, Mom. I love you, Dad."

"I love you too," they both replied.

Suddenly, Sophie felt extraordinarily confident. She wasn't sure if it was the support of her parents, or the sleep, or Keefe's pep talk, or what- but she suddenly believed that they could win. Not just that they _could _win, but that they _would._

"Let's do this," she said.

**This chapter is _incredibly _long- without the A/N's, it's well over 2,000. With A/N's, it's over 3K. **

**WHICH IS FREAKING INCREDIBLE!**

**This brings the total to _50,725._ Something is officially novel length at 50,000 words.**

**THIS BOOK IS AS LONG AS A FREAKING NOVEL!**

**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

**In other news...**

**We have approached the climax, which brings on a whole other bout of screaming, but I'll spare you guys and scream in real life (my poor parents). Anyway... I have no idea how to write this properly, so don't be surprised if I disappear. My plan is basically to write the whole thing and then divide it into chapters, which means it'll be a while until the fight scene, but then you'll get a double or triple update. So... I'll say that cancels out.**

**Wish me luck! I have no idea what I'm doing!**

**That's all, please review!**


	41. Chapter 39

**This chapter is... basically, utter garbage. I word vomited a filler that had nothing to do with the plot and then posted it. It ends in a cliffhanger again, and you don't get any action, so feel free to not read. **

**100beep: I'm sorryyyyyy. Though I'm only human, and I post a little at a time. You just read at the wrong time. Lol. And I take that as a compliment! :D**

**girlonfire: Hi! I don't have ao3, sorry. :/ But ahh! Thank you! (Reynolds pamphlet voice) DAM! Lol. Calm and rational is overrated. Thanks! I'll need it. :P**

**MallowMeltingKOTLC: Ahh! Thank you! :)**

**Kotlclover: Thanks! You'll have to wait.**

**thereisaredeemer (ch 14): Muahaha. And him dreaming about her was unrelated to him waking up, sorry if that was unclear.**

**thereisaredeemer (ch 13): I'm glad it does! Thanks! Don't worry, it doesn't become a super big part of the story.**

**thereisaredeemer (ch 8): Um.. the review did show up, but I'm not sure what was happening with Fanfiction-dot-net. The reviews were glitching at the time, so maybe that's it?**

**thereisaredeemer (ch 4): Yes. Yes I do.**

**thereisaredeemer (ch 3): Thanks! She is super fun to write.**

**SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: Thanks! I'll need it.**

**MarellaIsTheBest: Oh no! You are forgiven. Thanks! And I bet Tree is grateful too. Rejoice, maybe? But HUZZAH! Lol. Sorry in advance about the wait!**

**KotlcForeverandever: Yay! But you will have to waiiiiiiit. Because I suck at writinnnnnng.**

**Lilac: AHHH! THANK YOU SO MUCH! And I'll need it! :P**

**Lady Kiddo: Thanks! Awww indeed.**

**Princess Book: Thank you! SOKEEEEEEEEEFE! No problem. Thanks again! I'll try. ~A. Fan.**

**Elizabethornton: Eee! Lol. Thanks!**

**Mallowmelt: WOOOO! I'm not sure, but probably other friends. You'll have to wait a little longer, but thanks!**

**Swiftie: Ahh! Thanks! :P Congratulations on your black belt! Mine was April 2019. What style do you do? You might have to wait. :/**

**MidnightBunnyy: Ahh! I have! And that is a lot of A/N's. I have more than you in terms of numbers, but proportionally, you might have more. Tree is very grateful! XD. (YOU HAVE INVENTED A NEW KIND OF STUPID-) I have done it! There's a little more Kam-but-not-really in this chapter. Lol... great use of your time. Councillor Grumpypants is pretty great... ALL HAIL! And hmm, maybe. But I didn't do that, oops. Thanks! :)**

**On that note, enjoy!**

Sophie thought she'd been nervous before, but apparently, she was wrong. It was nothing, _nothing _like this. Her stomach was in knots, and instead of butterflies flying around, she had alicorns. Hands clammy, legs shaky- all she wanted to do was collapse in a heap. Except apparently, she was the moonlark or something, and that meant she had to act like she had any sort of anything resembling confidence.

Sometimes she hated being the moonlark.

Outside Eternalia, she was greeted with a death hug from one Biana Vacker. Biana looked extra gorgeous that day, in a tunic that was somehow extraordinarily fashionable and good for fighting. Although she normally had makeup on, and it was probably almost exactly the same, it looked more like war paint than beauty.

"You nervous?" Biana asked.

"What do you think?" Sophie said, with a bit of a laugh. It felt good to laugh- the motion eased the knots in her stomach, just a little. "You?"

Hugging herself, Biana flickered in and out of sight. "Mallowmelt yes. I'm terrified."

"You don't look like it," Sophie said.

Biana Vanished, and then joked "I don't look like anything. I'm invisible."

Sophie laughed again. "Anyone else here?"

"My brother, obviously, and my parents. No one else, though."

Sophie looked around for Fitz until she found him, in conversation with Della and Alden. She waved. He saw her and waved back, walking over.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi." The nerves, if possible, increased. Between multiple battles and Sandor's death, they hadn't really had much time to work past the awkwardness, and it was now hitting her full force. Sophie's eyes stayed on the ground.

"How are you?"

"Wonderful. Never been better." Sophie willed herself to look up, into his teal eyes. The teal eyes that had mesmerized her for years, that had made her heart flutter like nothing else. And then he smiled- what she used to call his "movie star smile." Looking back, her crush on him had honestly been kind of silly, and it was almost embarrassing how much she had fangirled over him. Any doubts she had about choosing Keefe vanished as her brown eyes met teal. By now, Fitz was just a person. A friend. She gave him a real smile.

"We'll be fine. We're going to win, Sophie. No reason to worry."

"You sound like your dad," Sophie laughed.

Fitz rolled his eyes, a grin on his face. "Yeah, I've had to hear him say 'no reason to worry' about five hundred times, so it's pretty much drilled into my brain by now. My apologies."

"No reason to worry," Sophie replied.

"Who wants weapons?" Dex announced, walking towards them, followed by Jensi. He handed each of them what looked like a wallet. "Basically, these things have an infinite amount of space, and they're full of cool gadgets. Pretty much all of them, you just throw at the Neverseen. If it's got a button, you press the button. Make sense?"

Sophie nodded. "You're the best."

"I know," Dex agreed, dimples showing.

"Seriously," Fitz added. "I know we don't usually make it obvious, but Technopathy is a super awesome talent and it's honestly really important. So I'm sorry if we've ever made you feel otherwise."

Dex's smile grew even wider. "Wow... thanks, Wonderboy."

Fitz blushed. "And, um, I'm sorry for calling you Deck. The first time we met."

Dex pondered this, stroking an imaginary beard. "Very well," he decided. "I forgive you. And I'm sorry I used to hate you."

The group was soon joined by Linh and Marella, hand in hand. Marella's head was resting on Linh's shoulder. "You guys ready?" Marella asked.

Together, everyone else replied "No," and then laughed.

"Tam's on his way," Linh said.

Sure enough, Tam joined soon, accompanied by Keefe. "Bangs Boy and I talked it out last night," he announced. "We're now BFF's! Right, Tammy Boy?"

Tam rolled his eyes. "I now tolerate you slightly more, but keep this up and I won't."

"Aww," Keefe replied.

A smile on her face, Sophie wondered why everyone was suddenly seeming a lot closer than before. Once she figured out that it was because they might not all survive today, it seemed obvious. She pulled an eyelash. "Who else is coming?" she asked.

"Wylie, Maruca, and Stina, I think," Jensi answered. The three of them came soon, confirming his answer.

Dex reached into his wallet of weapons **(™) **and brought out a gold key- the one to open the hamster ball. Paragon. Whatever it was called. Each of them entered the Paragon, and Sophie squeezed Keefe's hand, not sure if it was for him or for her.

The Paragon started spinning and the claustrophobia intensified. Sophie squeezed Keefe's hand so hard it had to hurt, and tried to take her mind away from the miserable hamster ball.

She thought about how many times she had faced the Neverseen. Once, when she had just arrived, when she and Dex were kidnapped. Again when she and Keefe rode on Silveny to get her abilities fixed, and a third time when she had to heal Fintan's mind. Then they had fought on Mount Everest and learned that Keefe's mother was part of it. They had gone to Ravagog and survived. There was the time at the Neverseen hideout, just after they figured out the Lodestar symbol, and in Lumenaria. In Nightfall too, and after Alvar's tribunal. At Everglen, in London, and in Loamnore.

So many times, and she survived each one.

This one was different, but she would survive this one too. There couldn't be any doubt in her mind of this, so Sophie was determined to be sure of it.

"We're here," Sophie heard someone say. She wasn't sure who it was. It might have been her. But no matter who declared it, they had arrived at the Point of Purity, and there could be no more stalling. The Paragon expanded and unlocked.

Sophie looked around at everyone who would be fighting by her side. All of her allies. No- _friends._ Keefe, Fitz, Biana, Dex, Marella, Tam, Linh, Stina, Wylie, Maruca, and Jensi stood talking and laughing, their bodyguards nearby. Her parents, as well as Alden, Della, Kesler, and the Collective, stood a few feet away. One way or another, it would all be over today, and at least if this was the end, she had her friends with her.

Sophie took a deep breath and walked out of the hamster ball, ready to face the Neverseen for the final time.

**See? I told you. GARBAGE! Lol. But I'll work on the next chapter. If anyone has any idea how to write a battle scene, PLEASE private message me! **

**THIS STORY JUST HIT 20K VIEWS THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU AMAZING HUMAN BEINGS! :) :) :)**

**Please review!**


	42. Chapter 40

**Helloooooooo! Yeah, I know- this is fast! I felt kind of bad about leaving you guys with that trashy, plotless last chapter (even though you guys all assured me that it was great, you're the bEsT). And I didn't want to disappear for a month with you guys hanging off of that cliff, so I decided to sit down and start writing. Of course, once I started writing without any interruptions, I managed to churn out 1300 words. So here you go!**

**Kotlclover: Ahh thank you! You're in luck!**

**MarellaIsTheBest (#1): Thank youuuuuuu. Heh heh heh aLL THE SHIPS ARE SO CUTE! ! ! And eee! Yay! Also really cool font, how the mallowmelt did you do that?**

**MarellaIsTheBest (#2): AHH! OMG! ASDFGHJKL! I actually did NOT know that- I'm no longer allowed to stalk SM on instagram without getting my own account, which I'm not allowed to. So thank you so much for letting me know! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

**MarellaIsTheBest (#3): No problem, lol. I knew what you meant.**

**HernameisBurrito: That's a mood. I'll need it! Ahh thank you!**

**girlonfire: Hi! No problem. Great references. AND PEGGY! :D**

**Sky: Well... is it FedEx? ;) Muahahaha, I'm not telling. that's pretty good advice! Be afraid, be _very _afraid. On that positive note... THANKS! -A. Fan.**

**Fitzphieistrash: Oh mallowmelt I could never, lol. I mean... MUAHAHA! Ahem.**

**Mallowmelt: No, because the council is too lazy to do anything useful by themselves and they rely on a group of kids. Each councillor has a key and Dex most likely borrowed it from either Bronte or Oralie. Thank you! Wait no more!**

**Elizabethornton: Thanks! Ugh, yeah, I never really thought about it that way... so yay! Fillers! **

**SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: Thanks! :)**

**Princess Book: Nice acronym. And thanks! I guess Sokeefe does make up for it... and yay! Keefe! I don't _think _it's weird... well, not any weirder than being a fangirl. Ahh thank you! -A. Fan.**

**Swiftheart1267: Yay! High five! Mine is in Kyokushin, which is a Japanese style. WRITER'S BLOCK IS THE ENEMY! Thank you! -A. Fan.**

**MidnightBunnyy: Was it FedEx? ;) You'll never know. I guess platonic Fitzphie is okay... I didn't really want to write him as a total jerk this time, so I wrote him as a normal guy that was perfectly fine, just totally wrong for Sophie. Lol. YEAH, GO SOPHIE! Thanks!**

**Siren: Yes it is! But thanks anyway. That's fine! :)**

**Okay, here is my attempt at a battle scene- it's like, halfway decent.**

**Crowd: Eh, more like ten percent.**

**Me: SHUT UP!**

**Okay, enjoy!**

Fintan's eyes widened in surprise as Sophie stepped out of the hamster ball- sorry, Paragon. "Sophie Foster, trying to 'save the day'. Why am I not surprised?"

Sophie gritted her teeth. "Because I will always do the right thing. No matter how hard it is."

"The right thing?" Fintan repeated. Sophie clenched her fists, willing herself not to betray any fear. "What makes you so sure you know the difference between right and wrong?"

"I-" Sophie started, the words dying in her throat. She swallowed and tried again. "Killing people is wrong. Genocide is even more wrong. And saving people is right."

Fintan stroked his chin. "Interesting. But you don't have any regrets about killing us, of course. Doesn't that make you just as evil?"

"Sometimes you have to do bad things to stop others from doing worse things. And I don't _want _to kill anyone- but if it's the only way, I will."

Fintan grinned, a maniacal look on his face. "But you see, Miss Foster, that's what we are doing. Are you not aware of the horrors humans cause? War. Destruction. Hatred. And the only way to stop that is by killing them. We're just doing the same thing you are, Miss Foster, simply against a different enemy.

Sophie froze as his words echoed through her mind. She opened her mouth to debate them, but found that an argument wouldn't come.

Was he right? Were Sophie and her friends doing the wrong thing?

"CAN YOU GUYS QUIT IT WITH THE TALKING!?" Biana screamed, drawing all eyes to her- and then she turned invisible. "Seriously, that is the most _boring _part of any battle. We _get _it, you guys hate each other, you disagree on concepts of good and evil, now can we move on to the fighting?"

"Biana's right," Stina said, causing Sophie's mouth to fall open in shock- and she doubted that she was alone. Even though Stina had definitely been better recently, she and Biana had absolutely despised each other. But there they were, standing side by side, ready to fight together. Stina reached into her pocket and brought something out enclosed in her fist so that no one could tell what it was. Another shock came when Stina yelled "Thanks, Dex!" and threw the object in the general direction of the Neverseen.

As soon as it hit the ground, it made a noise like a gunshot before exploding into thousands of brightly burning sparks. Loud cursing came from the voice of Ruy Ignis.

"Everything is better with sparkles," Biana whispered under her breath. Sophie fought down the bizarre urge to laugh, but as Stina's explosive thing continued to burn and the rest of her friends emerged from the Paragon, Sophie couldn't help but smile.

Somehow, and much to Sophie's disappointment (of course it couldn't have been that easy, but couldn't she hope?), the Neverseen managed to extinguish the flames. Sophie took a deep breath and watched as the other Neverseen members stepped out of their Paragon.

Ruy. Vespera. Gethen. Trix. Three figures that Sophie didn't recognize, each wearing a Neverseen cloak. Two goblins and an ogre.

That was it.

It was all Sophie could do to not clap a hand over her mouth and laugh with delight. For what was probably the first time ever, the Black Swan outnumbered the Neverseen. They hadn't expected anyone to come fight them, after all- the Black Swan managed to take them by surprise, and now they had the upper hand.

Before, Sophie had convinced herself that they would win, but she hadn't really believed it as truly as she did now.

Something small, vaguely resembling a Hershey Kiss, sailed over Sophie's head before nailing Gethen square in the face. He cried out in pain and slapped a hand to the burn. "Yes," she heard Wylie whisper.

One of the cloaked figures- small enough that Sophie wouldn't have thought them a threat, even shorter than she was- brought out some sort of neon green cube and brought her hand back, as though preparing to throw. Just before she let go, the cube exploded in her hand. Sophie looked around to see a look of concentration fading from Jensi's face, and a wide grin coming over it.

_Outward channeling, _she remembered.

"Biana," Vespera said in her sickening voice. Beside Sophie, Biana rubbed her bare shoulders. "I see your scars haven't disappeared yet. It's a shame- you used to be beautiful. And since your beauty was all you had, now... you're nothing."

Fitz growled, but his anger was nothing compared to Biana's. She bolted, running so fast that she was almost a blur, until a sucker punch to Vespera sent her reeling.

On Sophie's other side, Keefe took out a throwing star. She thought she heard him mutter "Gigantor" before flinging it in the general direction of the Neverseen. It nailed Trix in the shoulder.

Fintan shot flames at Marella, which Linh extinguished with ease before Marella fired back. Electricity crackled through the air from one of the cloaked members- probably the one that electrocuted Sophie. Dex, who apparently reached the same conclusion, became pelting them with gadgets, Stina joining in.

Sophie watched as the chaos unfolded- Keefe poking random members before attacking Vespera, Grizel going after the other goblins with a fury that only could have meant she was thinking of Sandor, Fitz and Dex teamed up against Ruy in the most unlikely of alliances- before all of her concentration returned to herself.

Sophie focused on all of her fear. All of her anger at those who had betrayed her, at those who had hurt someone she loved. All of the pain, from losing Sandor, Calla, Kenric, the first Mr. Forkle, even Jolie, though they had never met. She let herself feel all of it until it overwhelmed her.

And then she inflicted.

Beyond making sure that her waves of pain never hit one of her friends, she completely lost herself in the inflicting. Distantly, she heard yelling- whether it was from someone in the Neverseen or in the Black Swan, she couldn't tell- but all of it sounded like background noise, like all of it was muffled. The only thing that mattered was that she kept inflicting, and she couldn't afford any distractions.

When her vision finally cleared, she saw several Neverseen members on the ground. Gethen appeared to be completely unconscious, while Fintan and a cloaked member were both moving and groaning. One goblin had a spear through their chest, the ground them soaked in blood, and Grizel stood over them with a triumphant look on her face. Lovise and Woltzer were working together to take down the other goblin, and Ro was still sparring with the ogre. Wylie and Tam were fighting Trix, while Linh, Marella, and Stina went after Vespera. Grady appeared to be mesmerizing one cloaked figure, while Edaline and Juline were fighting the other. The rest of the collective was up against Ruy, and Dex, Kesler, and Jensi were throwing gadgets at random intervals. Maruca's brow was furrowed in concentration as she held up a force field. Inside, Fitz and Alden were kneeling by Biana, who had a large bruise on her forehead, and her scars from Nightfall were bleeding again.

"Enough," came Fintan's raspy voice. Sophie, who had been about to resume inflicting, froze. "Enough of this pointless fighting. I didn't come here to bicker with the Moonlark and her idiotic friends. I came to the Point of Purity to do one thing, and one thing only."

Fintan pulled a small, harmless looking vial from his pocket before continuing. "I came here to start the pandemic."

**OOooooooooooOooooooooo THE FINTONAVIRUS! O.o. Anyway.**

**Hopefully this wasn't too bad! :P**

**Anyway, the climax/battle scene will last at least two chapters. I'll try not to be too long with the second!**

**We're almost at 400 reviews! Thank you so much you amazing human beings.**

**Please review! Unless you're just here to insult me, in which case, go fight a gorgodon. Thanks!**

**Your obedient fangirl,**

**A. Fan.**


	43. Chapter 41

**WARNING: MONSTER A/N AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.**

**FOUR HUNDRED REVIEWS! ! ! When I joined fanfiction exactly two years ago (stay tuned for my essay in a few paragraphs!), even ten reviews would be a great accomplishment for me. Four hundred was even more in the realm of fantasy than the stories I wrote fanfiction for.**

**And then it happened. And for that, I can only thank my amazing readers.**

**Crowd: Well, you sure can't thank your own talent!**

**And now, my fanfictioniversary speech!**

**I joined two years ago to publish some bad Percabeth fanfiction. It got a few reviews. Not many, but a few. And then I started writing for Keepers, and my account basically blew up. At times, it's still unreal to me.**

**Joining fanfiction was probably one of my better ideas. This website has been an opportunity to write, to share my writing, and to improve. I would not be as talented as I am today if I hadn't practiced writing fanfiction and posted it here. I've also read some amazing fanfictions, probably too many to name, and made some incredible friends. I'll always be grateful for this website, and glad that I joined.**

**HAPPY TWO YEARS!**

**Anywhoooooo. I got so many amazing reviews, and even though fanfiction GLITCHED and I couldn't see any of them for DAYS, I can see them now! And I shall respond!**

**Bob, Bob 2, and BOB369 (Hopefully you're all the same person...): I WILL NEVER STOP WITH THE CLIFFHANGERS! And thank you for the compliments. The flames a while ago really made me feel awful, but it seems like you're trying to be a bit nicer, so I'm grateful for that. PS: Flames suck, but I'm a sucker for antagonist redemption.**

**Lady Kiddo: Only thing better is them dating. Just kidding. Or am I? Sort of. Thank you! i HaVe No CoNfIdEnCe WhAtSoEvEr but I'm sure your garbage is great too! It's a garbage _can_, not a garbage cannot! UGH, NO ONE LIKES THE FIVID-19!**

**SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: Yep! I'll try!**

**R2A88: That's... fast? Maybe? Three hours is shorter than the time it took to write. Anyway. Thank you! That's _such_ an amazing compliment! I'll try!**

**girlonfire: *Fintonavirus. You forgot the toilet paper! Anyway. I'm glad you liked it! (#GiveElsaAGirlfriend) YAY BLACK SWAN! It might actually be the first time. Whatever indeed. DESTROYYYYYYYYY! Nice reference! I'll try my best. AND PEGGY!**

**MarellaIsTheBest: FIVID-19! NOOOOOOO! Honestly, it annoys me when the villain and the hero spend 93483 pages explaining their plans- GET ON WITH IT ALREADY! FedEx? Maybe... ;). I don't think it works to publish chapters, but I'll try in a review! Nice font! And no problem.**

**Mallowmelt: Oh shoot. Both good points. I blame Glitterbutt23 for stealing my copy of Legacy so I can't fact check this stuff. ****1) Okay, so, maybe the two Paragons are built so that they connect with some sort of tube/hallway/solid thingy so councillors in opposite hamster balls can communicate? ? ? Maybe? ****2) I guess they couldn't bring too many people? And deemed the councillors useless? Sophie has the same power as Bronte, so his wouldn't be as important? And she doesn't want to see Oralie, and none of the other councillors would want to help. 3) It is a great name. 4) Thanks!**

**Sky: AHHHH! TOILET PAPER! NOOOO! Ahem. Thank you so much! Pacing is the _worst _to try to nail. And honestly, she is (second to Gisela, but I killed her). I think I'd be okay with that. ALL HAIL QUEEN BIANA! And ahhhhh! Thank you! -A. Fan.**

**Princess Book: Calm down. Actually, you're a fanpotato- you can't. Never mind. Don't jump off a cliff unless you're a teleporter like Silveny! But ahhhh thank you so much! It does. Say goodbye to the toilet paper! Don't get used to it. We're all insane here. I'll try! Your obedient fangirl, A. Fan.**

**HernameisBurrito: AHH! Not literally, I hope. Hey, I'm evil, but I'm not _that _evil. Oh no! Coughing! Do you have the fintonavirus? Ahh thank you! I'm sure yours was fine (your teacher is wrong). OH MY MALLOWMELT I LOVE THAT IDEA! To bad I've already planned this out. New fanfiction idea? No, I already have an idea for my next one.**

**Fitzphieistrash: 1) EEEE! YES! I think you're right. 2) Thanks! I stalk SM's instagram too, even though I don't have it either. 3) Hmm...**

**All right, enjoy!**

Sophie froze. She'd been so caught up in taking down the Neverseen that she forgot why this specific fight was taking place. All of their previous accomplishments in this battle meant nothing if she couldn't stop Fintan from causing human extinction.

_Stall! _her brain screamed, but she couldn't seem to think of words that would distract him-

"Why are you doing this?" Dex asked, briefly turning his head to Sophie and grinning before looking back at Fintan.

_Thank you_, she transmitted.

_Are we seriously doing this villain monologue thing? _Fitz transmitted to Sophie.

_Well, we need to stall him..._

_True, true, _Fitz agreed, before leaving her mind and listening to Fintan's answer.

"Humans," Fintan growled. "Deserve to die."

"Why do you think that?" Linh asked. "Have you ever met a human?"

"No, but-"

"Because Sophie has," Marella added. "Sophie's met many humans. So she's more qualified to decide whether or not humans deserve to die. Sophie?"

Sophie swallowed and thought about the time she'd spent in the human world. Considering it'd taken up twelve years of her life, she felt bad for not thinking of it more often. In the human world, she had always had the sense that she didn't really belong... but that had less to do with the humans around her and more to do with the fact that she wasn't human. Some humans had bullied her back at her old school, but some elves were just as bad when Sophie was at Foxfire. Jealousy and hostility weren't species specific traits. And Sophie's human family... in no world did they deserve to die. Yes, some humans were awful- but so were some elves. And just like some elves were amazing people, some humans were too. Despite the flaws of elvin society as a whole, no one was trying to commit genocide against them, so why should they do that to humans?

"Humans don't deserve to die," she said.

"That's what you think," Fintan countered. "Because you are naive and only willing to see the good in the world. You are blind to all of the flaws-"

"That's not true," Keefe interrupted. "Foster is the _moonlark. _Her _job _is to see the flaws in the elvin world from a different perspective."

Fitz nodded. "Yeah. The human world definitely isn't great- pollution, ignorance, hostility, a superficial society-" Sophie waited for the _but_, a little offended that Fitz had to take the time to list each one, but she couldn't argue with any of them.

"-But the elvin world has a lot of flaws too," Keefe continued. "Like, we discriminate against the stupidest things. Who cares if two siblings are twins? And our matchmaking system is screwed up-"

Sophie looked over at Fitz. Fitz looked away and Sophie's gaze turned to Biana. She had forced herself into a sitting position and was nodding along. Alden gave her a shocked look, but said nothing.

"-our Council is flawed, and people are hated both for having no special abilities or being too powerful."

"Being a screwed up species isn't specific to humans," Tam said. "And genocide is going a little bit overboard."

"You know nothing of what humans do!" Fintan snapped. Sophie raised her eyebrows, and Jensi opened his mouth, presumably to point out the obvious, but Fintan continued. "There is so much war. Terrorism. Hate."

"Like what you're doing?" Stina asked. "Like, um, burning things, killing innocent people-"

"And the environment! They're destroying it!" Fintan yelled.

"The world is heating up. Considering your life revolves around setting things on fire, I don't think that's so tragic," Glimmer said.

"Enough!" Fintan yelled, shooting a burst of flames in Sophie's direction. She yelped and dodged.

Grady glared at him, brow furrowing in concentration. Fintan's hand, the one holding the vial of Fintonavirus, opened. Based on the outrage on Fintan's face, Sophie doubted he did that willingly, but she took the opportunity, grabbing the vial with telekinesis and yanking. Ruy gritted his teeth and pulled back. Sophie's friends joined in on the telekinetic tug-of-war until the Fintonavirus came flying towards them. Wylie caught it as it flew through the air and handed the vial to Maruca, who made a force field around that.

Sophie cheered and, caught up in the celebrating, kissed Keefe. When they separated, she saw Fitz staring at them, a sad look on his face. He gave a small smile before turning away and high five-ing Dex. On Fitz's other side was Marella, trying and failing to pick Linh up and spin her around.

A second too late, Sophie noticed the murderous look on Fintan's face, the smoke around his hands. If she had noticed a second earlier, she would have had time to scream, to warn them- but Sophie couldn't even react until she heard Marella screaming and saw Linh crumple to the ground, Tam sprinting to his sister. There were a few seconds during which the three of them huddled together, and while Sophie was still hurrying towards them, Marella and Tam both attacked Fintan with a fury that scared even her.

Sophie looked at Wylie, who was also running to Linh. She rummaged around in her pocket for a leaping crystal to the healing center- of _course _she had a leaping crystal to the healing center- and handing it to Wylie, saying "Get her to Elwin." He nodded and picked Linh up before leaping away.

The fight resumed. Biana managed to get back up off the ground and immediately go after Vespera, despite protesting from her family. Fitz shook his head, muttering something about idiot sisters, before going to help her. A few of the adults were still fighting, but most of them were on the side helping with minor injuries, while Maruca gritted her teeth and kept force fields around all of them. With a shock, Sophie noticed that Keefe's arm was bent at an angle it probably shouldn't be. _I'm fine, _he mouthed when he noticed her looking.

Sophie nodded and looked away, instead focusing on figuring out which Neverseen members they still had to fight. Gethen, two goblins, and one cloaked figure were all either unconscious or dead. Della had joined Fitz and Biana in fighting Vespera, and Marella and Tam were winning against Fintan. Trix was leaning against the Paragon's side, a throwing star in his leg and blood soaking it. Two cloaked people, an ogre, and Ruy were pretty much the Neverseen members still posing much of a threat.

Biana hit Vespera with one more sucker punch before running over to Sophie. "She's either unconscious or dead," Biana panted. "I didn't bother to check."

"Are you okay?" Sophie asked. Biana's shoulders were still bleeding, and Sophie couldn't help but wince just looking at the bruise on her forehead.

"Never been better," she mumbled, leaning against Sophie. She put her arm around Biana before briefly inflicting on the ogre.

"Hey," Biana said weakly. "I just realized something."

"Yeah?"

"Shouldn't Alvar be fighting us too?"

Ruy, who had evidently heard them, threw some sort of gadget at them. Biana pulled Sophie out of the way just in time.

"Alvar's dead," Ruy yelled, looking almost pained by the words. A million emotions flashed through Biana's face. "He came to one of our hideouts a few weeks ago to say goodbye. He said to tell you... about the Vacker legacy."

"Yeah, I'm listening," Biana snapped. Fitz turned around to listen.

"The Vacker legacy," Ruy said, "According to Alvar, is forbidding a Vacker from falling in love with anyone who wouldn't be on a list some day. It's prioritizing reputation over someone their child depends on. It is always being seen as the perfect family, no matter the cost."

"Who was it?" Fitz asked. "That Alvar was in love with?"

"That's not the point!" said Ruy. "The point is, now you know what the Vacker legacy is. Fitz threw away his relationship with the moonlark because of it, and the legacy will ruin Biana's life too. This is your last chance to escape the Vacker legacy and to join us."

Biana reached into the pouch of gadgets that Dex gave her before throwing something large and heavy at Ruy. "I'm making my own Vacker legacy," she declared, just before it hit Ruy in the head and he collapsed.

"That was awesome," Fitz told her.

She grinned. "Thank you."

Marella and Tam came over to join the group. Most of Marella was still smoking, and Tam was shrouded in shadow. Both looked terrifying, and Sophie was glad they were on her side.

"Fintan's dead," Marella said simply.

Sophie had to admit that she felt no remorse. Whatsoever. Fintan deserved his death, especially if he was responsible for Linh's... no, that was too terrible to think about. "Nice job."

A cheer from Ro interrupted their conversation- she had finally killed the ogre. Only two Neverseen members remained, both cloaked. Dex and Stina were pelting one of them with gadgets. Both looked as though they were enjoying themselves. Sophie focused on the other, took aim, and inflicted until they were collapsed on the ground. After one more explosion from Stina throwing something, Dex pronounced the last member unconscious.

Sophie gasped, clapping her hands to her mouth as tears filled her eyes.

They had done it.

The Black Swan had won.

**I'll leave you guys with that non-cliffhanger. **

**The climax is over, now I just need some other stuff and... I won't spoil, but this is almost done! Which is bittersweet.**

**Please review!**


	44. Chapter 42

**Hey guys! You happy that last chapter wasn't a cliffhanger? Well too bad! This one is! Muahaha!**

**THIRTY FAVORITES!? YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING AHHH!**

**lil sunflower: AHH! Heh heh. Lol. Thanks! You'll see... ;)**

**MarellaIsTheBest: Thanks! Heh heh... heh. Maybe... ;)**

**Bob and all of Bob's other identities: Thank you! It's all right. The no cliffhanger thing isn't going to last. :P**

**Fitzphieistrash: Probably not... but I will be starting a new fanfic! **

**KotLCfan: YAY! It's slightly mentioned in this chapter, but... (whispers) Alvruy was a thing.**

**Princess Book: Tragic! BUT YAY! CAPS LOCK IS THE BEST NEVER STOP! WE'RE ALL INSAAAAAAAAANE! Thanks! Don't worry, I will have another. -A. Fan.**

**HernameisBurrito: Thanks! 1) Whew. That's good. 2) XD. Wall, stop judging Burrito! 3) The Grady Glare ™. 4a) Lol. 4b) Yeah. 5) MUAHAHA! 6) Honestly, it is not. 7) ALL HAIL OUR QUEEN! 8) Eh. I never liked him. His backstory was fun though. 9) AGAIN, ALL HAIL! 10) I reference that in here! XD BUT YAYYY! 11) Of course! It's chocolate! But just sweet is fine too... I definitely have a sweet tooth. And mallowmelt is the best!**

**girlonfire: Yep! You're the first one to get it. I will continue with my Ruyvar theory until it is disproven. She probably won't, but I will! We already have Marellinh... Nice references! Also, if you're the girl on fire... shouldn't I watch you burn instead of vice versa?**

**100beep: Oh, this chapter I will!**

**Mallowmelt: Thanks! Muahaha.**

**Sky: THANKS! Neither do I! AHH! But I think you'll love what I have coming... it's basically Marellinh with a side of salty Tam. YES BIANA! Ah, yes, the romantic high five. Their relationship has really gone to the next level. XD. Aww, thanks! That's an instance when I wrote something and only later realized that it sounded smart. XD. -A. Fan.**

**Fitzphieistrash (I think I got two?): No, not yet.**

**FlowerGirl15: It's fine! :) Thanks! MUAHAHA! Villain monologues are so hard to nail, so I'm glad it was good! MUAHAHA. I didn't really think either of them would appreciate Linh being roasted. Foster Keefe forever! :P Two years is honestly kind of amazing! Be glad you forgot the Percabeth stuff, it's trash. I like the cover too! Silvenyyyyy!**

**TheBackedUpT-Rex: Yay! Thank you! Lol. Great babysitting job. YAY! Not sure if I've said this before but I love your username.**

**MidnightBunnyy: Pretty sure I PMd you.**

**Alright, enjoy!**

Walking back into the Paragon and floating back to Earth was all a blur for Sophie. She felt like she was sleepwalking the entire time, but if she was in a dream, it wasn't one she wanted to wake up from.

Around her, people laughed and cheered and hugged, but Sophie was oblivious to it all- as per usual- as she dazedly thought _We won. We won. We won. We won! The world turned upside down._

Sophie stumbled out of the Paragon onto the ground, tripping, as always. Keefe caught her. "Glad to see that some things never change, Foster," he teased.

"Oh, shut up," Sophie mumbled, leaning into him. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and her face grew to the temperature of Everblaze.

The thought of Everblaze made her think of Fintan, and her mood was dampened as she remembered what he had done to Linh. Marella, judging by her tear streaked face and frantic searching for a leaping crystal, hadn't been able to forget, and neither had Tam. Sophie hoped she was okay... and reminded herself over and over that Elwin was a genius.

As Marella and Tam leapt away, Sophie looked around at all of her friends. Biana and Fitz were locked in a discussion about who it was that Alvar was in love with ("Come on, Fitzypoo, it was _obviously _Ruy-") and only stopped bickering when Della ordered Biana to go to Elwin. Sophie privately agreed- the bruise on Biana's forehead didn't look great.

Dex was greeted with confetti from the triplets, who were berating him for "beating the bad guys without us!" Dex rolled his eyes, but Sophie saw his dimples making an appearance.

Miracle of miracles, Jensi and Stina were acting civil to one another, judging by the lack of explosives. Maruca had always been friends with Stina, but she was acting polite towards Jensi as well.

"Foster?" Keefe said, reminding Sophie that she was a physical being in his arms, rather than an intangible observer of her friends.

"Mmm?"

"I think this is the first time in a while that the emotions I'm getting from you have been genuinely good. And not, like, insane with anxiety or heartbroken or wanting to murder someone," Keefe noted.

Sophie trusted the Empath. "It feels like it."

He adjusted his grip on her slightly, and Sophie remembered that one of his arms was probably broken, definitely injured. "You should probably get Elwin to look at that."

"Eh," Keefe shrugged.

"Keefe."

"Foster."

"Go get a physician to look at your clearly damaged arm," she ordered.

Keefe sighed. "Fine. I can't disobey the Mysterious Miss F."

Feeling bold, she gave him a quick kiss before he glittered away. Kissing her boyfriend(!) was becoming almost a regular enough occurrence that she didn't feel the need to squeal for five hours afterwards... only two or three hours.

Grady and Edaline came over- Grady very clearly trying hard not to comment on Sophie's affectionate behavior towards That Boy- and hugged her. She collapsed into them, giving her parents even more of her weight than she had given to Keefe.

"We're so proud of you," Edaline whispered. Even if Sophie knew what to say in response, she was suddenly too choked up. Deciding that actions spoke louder than words, she squeezed tighter.

"You ready to go home, kiddo?" Grady asked.

Sophie didn't even need to think about the question before "yes" slipped out of her lips.

_SOPHIE! SOPHIE! SOPHIE! _Silveny greeted her as she leapt to Havenfield.

_Hey, Glitter Butt, _Sophie transmitted, laughing.

_SOPHIE BEAT BAD GUYS!? _

_Yeah, Glitter Butt. Sophie beat the bad guys. With help from her friends, of course._

_KEEFE! FITZ! BIANA! DEX!_

_Yeah. Those friends._

_FRIENDS! FRIENDS! FRIENDS!_

Sophie loved Glitter Butt, but the exuberant alicorn was starting to give her a headache. Waving goodbye to Silveny, she walked into her house and stumbled up to her room.

Instead of greeting her with MILLION DECIBEL TRANSMISSIONS like Silveny, Iggy greeted her with a burp. With a shock, Sophie noticed that he was gold, though she had no idea when Dex would have dyed the imp. No matter what Dex's mysteriously magical ways were, gold was the right color to choose, for sure. The color of victory.

Sophie collapsed on her bed and fell asleep almost instantly. She was out cold for thirteen hours straight.

When she woke up, for a second, she forgot everything that had happened at the Point of Purity. A wide smile rose to her face when she remembered. Iggy burped again. Sophie laughed and headed downstairs, the smell of mallowmelt inviting her.

"You slept for a while," Edaline noted, giving her a plate. Sophie took a huge bite.

"I was tired," she said through a mouthful.

"You needed the rest."

Sophie's mallowmelt was gone almost immediately, as were her seconds, and her thirds. At some point during her third helping, Grady came in and ruffled Sophie's hair, declaring "She lives!"

"Yep," Sophie agreed.

Grady laughed and reached a bit of her mallowmelt. Gasping, Sophie swatted his hand away. "Mine! All mine!"

"Okay, okay," Grady sighed. "So, Mr. Forkle hailed, and- only if you feel up to it- he asked to talk to you once you were awake."

Sophie thought about it. "Okay. More mallowmelt first?"

Edaline sighed. "Normally, I wouldn't let you eat this much- but fine. It's a special occasion."

"Thanks, Mom! You're the best!"

Two servings of mallowmelt and one attempted Vertina tutorial later, Sophie was blatantly refusing to climb all of those stairs, insisting that she'd "suffered enough" during the battle. Mr. Forkle, not without many "you kids"s, finally conceded that they could simply meet in his office. Sophie gave up wondering why they couldn't just agree to meet there in the first place.

"I must congratulate you, Sophie," Mr. Forkle said, in Magnate Leto form.

_Not for my stair climbing capabilities, _Sophie thought. "Thank you."

"You kids did an amazing job defeating the Neverseen. Any members still living that you managed to knock unconscious or take captive will stand trial tomorrow. We think we've gotten all of their members, but if not, we think they'll have a difficult time causing any real damage without their leaders."

Sophie nodded, suddenly overwhelmed by the fact that _we did it, we really won, it's really over._

"Miss Foster..." Mr. Forkle said, suddenly looking much more professional. "The collective and I talked, and we decided that, with the amazing job you did, you deserve to know the secrets we've been keeping from you."

Sophie pulled on an eyelash. "Does that mean... you're going to tell me who my biological father is?"

"Only if you'd like," Mr. Forkle said. "I will assure you, however, that you've never met them, only know of them, so you won't feel betrayed like you did with Councillor Oralie." Strangely, Sophie didn't want to strangle someone upon hearing the name. "And of course, I'm sure matchmaking won't be an issue now that you're with a different- ah- you know what, that's irrelevant. Hopefully matchmaking will not be a problem in your current relationship, and hopefully part of your job as the moonlark will be to convince the council against the system."

Sophie tugged at another eyelash. She'd been so focused on fighting the Neverseen that she hadn't thought as much about the social action aspect of her moonlarky job. But of course, that was a different problem than the one she was facing now- should she ask the identity of her biological father?

It was nowhere near as big a deal as it was a few months ago, when she was concerned about being a bad match. Nor was she as strongly against it as when she first learned of her biological mother's identity- and Forkle had confirmed that she wouldn't feel that betrayal again.

Sophie never had to meet him. There was no obligation to. If she had never met him before, she could go about her day with this information and not be affected at all. And, let's be honest, she would always be a bit curious.

"Okay."

***Hides behind Shady Black Belt Protection Squad ™.***

**PLEASE DON'T KILL ME-**

**Though honestly, I'd love to hear your guesses, so guess in the reviews! If anyone gets it right I'll give them a pRiZe! What is that prize?**

**Eh. Doesn't matter, because none of you are going to guess it.**

**MUAHAHAHA!**

**Please review!**


	45. Chapter 43

**SHOOT. I ACTUALLY HAD PEOPLE GET THIS RIGHT. TWO PEOPLE. WASN'T EXPECTING THAT. CONGRATULATIONS!**

**Seeing all of the other guesses was actually pretty fun. I felt like such an evil author, and now I know how Shannon must feel when seeing different theories. MUAHAHA! ****I believe I saw quite a few people guess the Mr. Forkle that _wasn't _there when Sophie asked. I totally have that theory too. The more guesses I have, the greater my chance of being right, after all! So good guess, but I went with my other theory for this book.**

**lil sunflower: Haha, yeah! Thanks.**

**MarellaIsTheBest: Thanks! All good guesses... ;)**

**KotLCfan: Muahaha. But interesting theories!**

**SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: Thanks! Hehe.**

**girlonfire: Ruyvar is canon until proven wrong, which it won't be, so it's canon. Change my mind. Good guesses... ;). Nice reference lol. Thanks!**

**Bobs: No problem! Muahaha nice you kids joke.**

**Sky: AHH! Lol. Muahaha! I mean, duh! It's canon. Change my mind! Lol, thanks! -A. Fan.**

**HernameisBurrito: Okay, but now I want to try calling the number! Gosh darn it, Burrito! Anyway, from the beginning: AHH! XD. Nice summary. Lol, sounds fun. Not horrible guesses... if I find a spare brain, I'll let you know. (Sigh.) I need one too. **

**kotlc pj dam fan: Maybe... ;)**

**Fitzphieistrash: Thanks for all the great reviews! :D**

**Mallowmelt: Thanks! Great parody. ONE OF THE VACKERS WOULD BE GROSS EW EW EW! But otherwise good guesses! ;)**

**The-Vegginonymous-Potato: Good guess, good guess.**

**Swiftheart1267: Muahaha! That was the plan all along. But ahh thank you! Good guess... ;). Glad you liked it! Oh my gosh, the cover is great! But ugh, no Dex. #Dexonthecover2021! -A. Fan.**

**MidnightBunnyy: It is indeed, thank you. YIPPEE! I love cliffhangers. As long as I'm the one giving them, otherwise, they suck. But anyway. One of those three are correct, not telling which one. And the prize will be revealed at the end of the chapter. **

**TheBackedUpT-Rex: Appropriate reaction, muahaha. Glad it does! Hamilton forever! Thanks! It's a great username. :P**

**Be prepared, this chapter is FRICKIN' LONG! 2500 or something. Too many. **

**Crowd: Even one would be too many, if it was from an author as awful as you!**

**Me: Wow, thanks.**

**Okay, anyway, enjoy!**

Mr. Forkle cleared his throat. "Alright. Do you remember the memory that you and Mr. Dizznee saw in Councillor Oralie's cache?"

Sophie nodded slowly. "Yes...?"

"Your father is the... former elf, Mr. Laron Wainright. Ethan Benedict Wright."

Sophie felt nothing more than mild surprise. Her world was not flipped upside down. She hadn't expected it, certainly- nor had she suspected her father to be a dead criminal- but she didn't particularly care. "Why?"

"For one thing, we thought it would be beneficial to remove the stigma surrounding talentless elves if the most powerful elf had a talentless parent. He had also been 'turned' human, and part of your role as moonlark was to establish a connection between humans and elves- though of course, his DNA matches elvin DNA, so you are still one hundred percent elf."

"And alicorn," Sophie couldn't resist muttering.

"Not actually," Mr. Forkle corrected. "But hopefully that answer satisfied your curiosity."

"It did. Yes. Thank you."

"Please don't make me regret this, Sophie. And now you see why we didn't want people knowing, I presume?"

"Yes." The world would definitely be in turmoil had it gotten out that a criminal- one of the worst non-exiled elves- was related to the moonlark, and he was talentless, and human. Three strikes against him. Though Sophie did see the Black Swan's reasoning as well.

She was definitely not as upset as she was after finding out who her biological mother was. That was definitely, in part, because she had never met Ethan Benedict Wright, he hadn't lied to her face for years and years and years, she had never _trusted _him, and- Sophie shut that thought. This was not the time to repeat the reasons she was mad at the councillor that shall not be named. But the newfound information didn't bother her because, after finally, _finally _winning against the Neverseen (a fact that still completely overwhelmed her, one she still couldn't quite believe), not much could spoil her mood.

Except, of course, for remembering that Linh was nearly killed and might already be-

"Is Linh okay?" Sophie blurted, the victory crashing down around her.

Mr. Forkle's eyebrows raised. Evidently, he was expecting more questions about Sophie's parentage. But that had almost completely vanished from Sophie's mind when she started worrying about one of her best friends. "Yes, actually- I was planning to tell you that next. Elwin wants her in the Healing Center for a few more days, and she'll have some permanent scarring, but she's already conscious and will almost certainly survive."

Sophie puffed out a sigh of relief, flicking a few eyelashes off of her fingertips. She hadn't even realized she'd pulled them. "How about Keefe? And Biana?"

"Both are insisting that they don't need medical attention. They do, but it's not serious."

Sophie nodded, a stupid smile rising to her face. They were okay. No one else had gotten badly injured, out of her friends. All of her friends were okay. They'd be okay.

"Is that all?" she asked, itching to go visit them anyway.

"Not quite, Miss Foster," Mr. Forkle said. "This may be a bit soon, and you definitely don't have to start worrying about this now... but when we created you-" Sophie flinched slightly at the phrasing. "-you were meant to be a way to right some of the wrongs in our worlds, to rid it of its injustices. Not necessarily to defeat the Neverseen. When the threat of the Neverseen appeared, you handled it far better than we could have ever predicted, and we cannot thank you enough. And you are under no obligation to fulfill your intended purpose- you are a person, not a tool- but from what I know of you, Miss Foster, you are the kind of person who would want to start fixing the world. And you don't have to start now, of course, so soon after your victory against the Neverseen, but just try to think about it."

Sophie nodded, resisting the urge to pull out her eyelashes. Being told what she was quite literally made to do, seeing that responsibility put on her shoulders, was a little overwhelming. More than a little. "Okay."

"Thank you again, Sophie. You are free to go."

Sophie blushed, never knowing quite what to do with compliments. "Thanks. Bye."

As soon as she left the office, she leapt over to the Healing Center. To her delight, she only tripped three times on her way, rather than her usual six or seven. _Mental high five! _

Elwin greeted her outside the door to the Healing Center, bags under his eyes and a cup of coffee in his hand. **(Do elves have coffee? Just go with it.) **"Hi, Sophie! Rare that you're not the patient, huh? Anyway, most of your friends are inside already. They're debating about whether or not Tam should get a stuffed animal."

"Um, _yes_!" Sophie said. She guessed that everyone agreed with her, except for Tam, that is.

"-but I don't _want _a stuffed animal!" Tam protested, slumped over in a chair, his bangs covering his eyes.

"Come on, Bangs Boy!" Keefe argued. "Yes you do!"

"Tammy, your injured sister would like you to get one!"

"I am aware, Linh, you've tried playing that card like fifteen different times in the last two minutes."

"Yes, because I'm _right_!"

"No you're not."

"Don't disagree with my girlfriend!"

Sophie laughed, shaking her head slightly at the madness. She had the craziest and most wonderful friends in the Lost Cities. "I agree with Linh. You need a stuffed animal. A bat, maybe?"

"Sounds good!" Dex agreed. "And we'd name it...?"

"Mr. Shadowmaster?" Biana suggested.

"Mr. Saltlord?" Fitz added.

Tam groaned. "I hate you all."

"Don't say that, Tammy, that's mean!" Linh exclaimed.

"Anyway, Sophie, what have you been doing?" Wylie asked in a valiant attempt to bring the conversation away from Mr. Shadowmaster or Mr. Saltlord or whatever they were calling Tam's stuffed bat. It worked.

"Sleeping. Eating mallowmelt. Talking to Mr. Forkle."

"Ooh, what'd the Fork Man say?" Keefe asked, barely looking up whatever he was doodling on the cast covering his left arm."

Sophie tugged at an eyelash. _These are my friends, _she reminded herself. _I can trust them not to tell anyone. I can trust them. _"He told me who my biological father was."

"Really?" said Fitz, his teal eyes meeting hers. Sophie flicked her eyes away, not wanting to remember their argument after she found out about Oralie. She failed.

"Yeah."

"Who is it?" Dex asked eagerly. "Only if you want to tell us, that is."

Another eyelash. _It's fine. It's okay. They can know. You can trust them. _"Ethan Benedict Wright."

Biana's brow furrowed. "Isn't he, like, a human?"

"It's kind of a long story..." Sophie mumbled.

"I'll tell it," Dex offered. "We found this in Oralie's cache. Wright used to be a Talentless elf. Then he discovered Stellarlune and developed the ability to steal abilities, like Keefe has. The council was not happy. Which is very obviously an understatement. They basically stripped away all of his elfiness, in technical terms, and sent him to live as a human. Then Gisela murdered him. The end."

"That's not _that _long of a story," Marella said.

"That was the very paraphrased version," said Dex.

Biana cleared her throat. "Do you know who your mom is?"

"Biological mom," Sophie corrected automatically. Edaline was her real mom, and no DNA would ever change that. "And yes. I'll tell you guys, but you have to _promise _not to tell anyone. Like, ever. Because she could get in a _lot _of trouble if anyone found out." Everyone in the room nodded. "It's, um, Councillor Oralie," she almost whispered.

Everyone reacted with various gasps and shocked expressions. Linh was the first to notice that a few people did not look very surprised- namely Fitz, Keefe, and Dex.

"They already knew," Sophie admitted. "I told Fitz right after I found out, and Dex figured it out on his own, and I told Keefe after we started... dating..."

"Is this why you started acting really weird around Oralie?" Wylie asked. Sophie tugged an eyelash, realizing just how very subtle she'd been with her annoyance.

Tam nodded. "Yeah, you've started acting like you hate her, which is weird, because she used to be your favorite councillor."

"Yeah."

"I think you should talk to Oralie," Dex nagged.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"I agree with Dex," Linh cut in before the bickering could continue any longer. "If the timeline I've figured out is correct- from just before you and Fitz broke up- you've known for months and months. That's kind of a long time to be bitter. Just talk to Oralie, what's the worst that could happen?"

Sophie didn't really have an answer to that, so she mumbled "Fine."

She stayed a while, talking and laughing with her friends about nothing in particular, until Elwin kicked everyone except for Keefe, Linh, and Biana out, and Sophie decided that she couldn't really stall much longer. She leapt to Eternalia, just outside Oralie's council.

_Deep breaths, _Sophie reminder herself, tugging an eyelash.

She knocked.

Oralie opened the door, eyes widening almost comically when she saw Sophie. "Didn't expect you here," she mumbled, running a hand through her previously flawless hair. "What brings you...?"

"Can I come in?" Sophie mumbled, eyes on the floor. More and more, she was regretting caving in to Linh and Dex. This was incredibly awkward. She couldn't decide whether she wanted to strangle Oralie or sink into a hole.

"Um... yeah. Yeah, sure," Oralie stammered.

Determined to look everywhere but the Councillor Who Shall- _Oralie, _Sophie busied herself by looking around Oralie's castle. The walls were pink. Vases filled with flowers covered pretty much every available surface. The walls were mostly bare, but- Sophie noticed with a twinge of pity- Oralie had a few pictures of her and Kenric hanging up. Oralie led Sophie to a kitchen table, offering her a seat and a plate of custard bursts. Despite the fact that Sophie's stomach was twisting with knots, she took one.

"So what brings you here?" Oralie asked.

"I, um..." Sophie started eloquently. "Well, I..." She pulled out an eyelash. And another. And another. "I've mostly been ignoring the fact that..." _Eyelash. _"That I have your DNA, but my idiot friends forced me to maybe face my problems and stuff?"

Oralie nodded, looking at her high heeled shoes. "I see."

"So, I guess when I first found out, I felt kind of... betrayed?" Sophie squeaked. "That I used to really like you, but then I found out you'd been lying the entire time we've known each other."

Oralie exhaled, cheeks puffing out the exact same way that Sophie's did. Every time she noticed any similar traits between them, it was disconcerting. _We share DNA, _it seemed to scream. _No matter how much you want to, you can never escape that. _"I guess I have," she muttered. "I can't really deny that."

This was the worst defense ever.

"But Sophie, I never lied to you for the sake of lying. You know that, right?"

"I guess?" Sophie mumbled, though she already knew Oralie was a great liar. Who said she was telling the truth now?

"I know you don't believe me," Oralie said. "Empath, remember?"

"Right," Sophie said. Since she didn't have Empathy, she touched her hand to Oralie's wrist and checked for her lying tell.

"But I'm very sorry I broke your trust," Oralie continued. "I knew it was for the right reasons, but every time I looked into your eyes and didn't tell you, I felt awful. That's probably not enough, and you have every right to be mad, but I'm sorry." Oralie's pulse remained normal. She wasn't lying.

Sophie took a deep breath. And another. And another. Oralie didn't want to lie to her. She was sorry. She had always wanted to tell Sophie the truth.

Sophie was still mad, definitely. She didn't know if she would ever stop being mad. And Sophie seriously doubted that her relationship with Oralie would ever go back to the trust she'd had before. But for now... Sophie was done with hating Oralie. Sophie was done with refusing to speak Oralie's name. Sophie was done with going out of her way to avoid speaking to her biological mother. Sophie was done with holding a grudge.

"Okay," she said, unsure what else to say. Oralie's Empathy seemed to figure out the rest, and the councillor nodded, a small smile coming to her face.

"I know I'm not your mom, Sophie," Oralie said. "You have my DNA, but Grady and Edaline are your real parents. And I am okay with that. But for what it's worth, I'm glad to have played a part in creating such an amazing girl."

Sophie's face burned- she even felt tears prick her eyes. "Thank you."

Oralie nodded, not saying anything else. Sophie wasn't sure what else to say, but even if she knew, she didn't really think she _would _say anything else. So she just nodded back and stood, waving goodbye before walking out.

Dex and Linh were right, to Sophie's mild annoyance. Talking to Oralie was the right thing to do. It felt cheesy to think, but after letting go of that stupid grudge, Sophie felt a bit lighter. Happier.

Oralie wasn't her favorite councillor. She wasn't the Councillor That Shall Not Be Named. She was just a person that Sophie happened to share DNA with. Not a person that Sophie had to particularly care about one way or another.

She leapt away from her biological mother's house and back to Havenfield, where the only parents she would ever need greeted her with hugs and desserts.

**Okay, soo... lotta stuff happened. I know this isn't the main idea of the chapter, but seriously, Tam with a stuffed bat? Yes or no? If yes, shadowmaster? Or saltlord? Or something else? Tam's stuffed animal is the new main idea of the series. I need input on this!**

**Other than that, what'd you think of the Oralie/Sophie talk? It was one of the scenes I've been planning since basically the beginning, so I hope I did a good job on it! Lol. **

**And, of course, Ethan Benedict Wright is her father! Who could have seen this coming? The guest reviewers Mallowmelt and MarellaIsTheBest, apparently. You two are the winners!**

**And... I promised a prize, didn't I? I suppose I did. Each of you have one of two options, though the first one is probably better.**

**1) A oneshot for any ship of your choice. You can give me as many details as you want or just give me the ship and tell me to go insane. I'll be posting it on Glitter-Fangirls-23 unless it's Tiana. But yeah! Oneshots on request. **

**2) A "ship moment" in here for any ship of your choice (as long as it doesn't interfere with the already canon Sokeefe and Marellinh). This "moment" would, of course, be less along the lines of them kissing and confessing undying love, more along the lines of a glance when dating or matchmaking is mentioned. **

**Personally, I'd choose option one, but it's your choice! **

**Alright, pretty sure that's all, please review!**


	46. Chapter 44

**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

**Well, that was a lovely opening. I'm sure it got your attention, at least.**

**Swan Song is complete. This isn't the last chapter, it's the second to last, but I wrote the last chapter as well and posted it in a double update. So I finished this book. But I'll leave the novel-length author's note to the end of next chapter.**

**girlonfire (1): (Reynolds pamphlet voice) DAM! Ahh sorry. I'm in so many fandoms, bleh. In addition to those, sort of Harry Potter (though I'm pissed at JKR), Divergent, the Selection, Hunger Games, TFIOS, The Lunar Chronicles, Wicked, Dear Evan Hansen, Rent, Les Mis, Heathers, Mean Girls... probably more that I'm not listing. I only write for Hamilton, KOTLC, and PJO though. Sorry! And Peggy!**

**girlonfire (2): LOL, that's a great name! I went with Saltlord, though. And Peggy!**

**lil sunflower: EW EW EW THAT'S DISGUSTING BLEH BLEH BLEH! Ahem. Don't mind me. Saltlord it is! :)**

**HernameisBurrito: I love long reviews! Whoo! Well, that's also an acceptable name. Oof, yeah. That was my plan. Make him important enough to not make it seem crazy, but irrelevant enough that no one predicts it. I'm glad it was good! I think that happens in Legacy... but GB23 stole my copy, so I can't remember for sure. Of course it's a yes! And I decided on Saltlord. That's also a good idea to give Tam a stuffed saltshaker! Lol. And the brain thing is a BRILLIANT idea. Though they should probably be more expensive. Thanks! :D**

**Mallowmelt: Ooh, okay! Fluffy or angsty? Yay! And lol, thanks! And MarellaIsTheBest gives their congratulations!**

**MarellaIsTheBest: Yay! Good job! Ooh, fun! Yay! Marellinh is very fun. XD of course! Hehe. THANK YOU SO MUCH AHHHHH! Cool font, too.**

**SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: Saltlord it is! Woo! O.o Hopefully it wasn't so surprising as to be bad. :/ But thanks!**

**TheBackedUpT-Rex: Yay! It did end up happening, spoiler alert. Lol. I could never kill Linh... (Flashbacks to when I did) HIDE THE EVIDENCE! Thanks!**

**Fitzphieistrash: Probably to remove the stigma around talentless, since their genetic editing is good enough to give her the talents anyway. And I guess she does have a dead half sister... though she already had an adoptive dead sister (Jolie). **

**MidnightBunnyy: Technically, yes. I was asking for a name. I guess you can request a ship oneshot... I'm just not guaranteed to grant that request. There's your runner up prize. Definitely cute, though Saltlord won the popular vote. My apologize. Yay! If you're missing ridiculous names, just remember chapter two: EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNS. Or was that chapter one? I can't remember. Anyway, thanks!**

**FlowerGirl15: Yay! Thanks! Oof, sorry. Forkle will never reveal his other identities. Saltlord it is! You too!**

**All right, enjoy the (sniff sniff) second to last chapter!**

Days passed, both slowly and quickly all at once. Keefe, Biana, and Linh were all healed and cleared to leave the Healing Center. The group went on a shopping trip to Atlantis and got Tam a stuffed bat, with Mr. Saltlord as the decided name.

It was odd, being normal teenagers. The day after the battle, the council made an announcement that the Neverseen were no more. School was cancelled for a week in celebration, but Sophie was looking forward to when she went back and her only worries were failing a linguistics test, instead of whether or not she'd die. Parties were thrown constantly, though Sophie didn't attend many of them. She was content to stay at home- baking with Edaline, eating with Grady, playing games or just talking with her friends.

Even stranger was walking around- in public- without bodyguards nearby. Sophie had gotten a little more used to it than her friends, and still constantly missed Sandor- though she had to smile when Keefe and Ro arranged to meet up and wreak havoc every Saturday afternoon. Biana said that the house felt strangely silent without Woltzer yelling "MISS VACKER, UNVANISH RIGHT NOW! I AM YOUR BODYGUARD AND IT IS MY JOB TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!" or Grizel trying to hold Mr. Snuggles hostage if Fitz didn't stop sneaking off. Dex cackled at the thought of staying up later to work on gadgets now that Lovise wasn't around to nag him about sleeping.

Sophie and Keefe started going on dates- actual dates, where Biana would give Sophie a makeover and dress her up, Keefe would try to flirt while tongue-tied, and Grady would stand threateningly with his boy bat when Keefe came to pick her up. Now that she wasn't worried about survival, she had far more time to be head over heels in love with Lord Hunkyhair. Ro occasionally stalked their dates, eating popcorn and screaming about "ships" and "OTPs."

Sophie had never gotten to be a normal elf before. But now that she got the chance, she decided that she liked it. A lot.

Two weeks after their battle with the Neverseen, the council held the tribunal for any surviving members. Oralie- who Sophie was now on speaking terms with- assured her that the Neverseen members would almost certainly be exiled, and the tribunal was just a formality. Sophie began planning a speech to give at the tribunal, consulting Mr. Forkle when necessary.

The day arrived after a girls' night at Everglen. Biana's jaw almost fell off of her face when Sophie willingly asked for a makeover, but quickly overcame her shock and enthusiastically obliged. With light makeup, braided hair, and a red dress (with pockets!), she looked both smart and, in Marella's words "Almost as beautiful as Linh, which is seriously high praise."

The tribunal itself was rather boring- an eternity of Emery's droning voice reciting names and listing charges, ending with each person being sentenced to a lifetime in Exile. Sophie cheered every time a Neverseen member was convicted. Finally the last one- Ruy- was taken away by goblins, and Sophie stood up.

"Hello," she said, clasping her hands to avoid pulling eyelashes. She hoped her voice didn't sound shaky, and mentally thanked Biana for making her look so good- almost every elf in the Lost Cities was staring at her. "My name is Sophie Foster. You probably know that already, and you know me as the Moonlark. And, of course, as the person who defeated the Neverseen."

Sophie took another deep breath. "But I wasn't the only person to do so. My amazing group of friends, all of whom are sitting around me, helped- and we couldn't have done it without each and every one of them.

"Now, I'm not defending what the Neverseen did. Murder and arson are not the way to go about change. But I do agree with the Neverseen-" Most of the crowd gasped. "-that change needed to happen.

"When I first came to the Lost Cities, at the age of twelve years old, I was shocked by all of the injustice. When I was brought here, I was told that elves were a species far superior to humans. And it's true that humans have their flaws- but so do elves. Multiple births. Pyrokinetics. Talentless. 'Bad matches.' Do you think the way we treat those elves is _fair_?"

A few elves in the crowd nodded, making Sophie's blood boil. She took a deep breath to calm herself- if people were going to take the Moonlark seriously, she needed to appear rational.

"Most elves justify their discrimination by believing that those groups of elves are _lesser _than us. But that's not true. Because some of those elves your beliefs apply to- they are the reason the Neverseen are gone.

"Tam and Linh are twins. Multiples births. And their entire life has been shaped by such, with their own parents hating them. And both of them are astonishingly powerful, with Linh's hydrokinesis and Tam's ability to control shadowflux. Beyond that, Shades are typically seen as untrustworthy- but I would trust Tam with my life, and most of my friends would too.

"Jensi Babblos never manifested an ability, but his skills- telekinesis and outward channeling and stuff- were super helpful. And-" Sophie took a deep breath. "My own father, my biological father, was Talentless. Me, the most powerful elf alive- I have Talentless DNA. Does that help you understand how elves without special abilities aren't worthless?

"Dex Dizznee is the son of a bad match. And yet, his technopathy has proven invaluable to our team. Opening the caches, hacking into the Neverseen's security systems, the sucker punch, building explosives... those were some of the most useful factors in our victory. And his parents are a so-called bad match.

"On the subject of matchmaking, a vast majority of this friend group will likely be a bad match some day. Neither of my biological parents' identities will ever be known to the matchmakers-" Sophie saw Oralie let out a sigh of relief. "-so my future husband and I wouldn't be matched. Biana, who once knocked out a Neverseen member with a punch, who defeated another while injured- doesn't want to sign up for the match. Does that make her any less of a queen? I think not. Dex doesn't either, but I already explained how awesome he is. And Marella and Linh are..."

"Really frickin' gay!" Marella yelled. Linh laughed and leaned her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.

"Yes. Marella and Linh are really frickin' gay. Match lists don't match people of the same gender, so they wouldn't be on each other's lists. And because of Marella's pyrokinesis, she'd be labeled as talentless as well. Which is ridiculous- like any other ability, pyrokinesis can be dangerous, but it doesn't make someone a bad person, and certainly shouldn't be illegal. In fact..." Sophie took a deep breath. "I think we should get rid of matchmaking."

As predicted, a gasp sounded throughout the crowd.

"It's not a good system. It's unfair. People you don't even know tell you who to marry, and if you don't listen, society hates you. It completely ignores the existence of people who are, in Marella's words, 'really frickin' gay.' And peoples' ability to love are judged based off of their special ability. I've thought about it, and will consider negotiations with the council at a later date, but here is my idea for now.

"People can go to the matchmakers, but it is optional. Any couples can go to confirm that they aren't related, since that actually is important. Lists are recommendations rather than rules. The match packet doesn't ask for special ability, and talentless elves can be matched with talented elves. The packet should, however, ask what gender you'd prefer. And people who got married from a list should be treated the same as people who fell in love on their own.

"The point is, we shouldn't judge someone's worth based off of their special ability. Or their siblings. Or their parents. Or whether or not their names are on a certain list, and the system for the list needs to be different. Elvin society and attitudes need to be different. I am aware that change doesn't happen in a day, but it can start on a day. And when should that day be? No day but today."

Sophie fell silent as she was met with thunderous applause. Some people- Vika Heks, Lord Cassius, Quan and Mai Song, and Councillor Alina, to name a few- were scowling or rolling their eyes, but for the most part, the reaction was positive. Sophie's own friend group yelled "thank you"s and "congratulations", and in Keefe's case "I love you, Foster!" It was several minutes before the crowd fell silent.

"One more thing," Sophie said. "I think we should reopen the Human Assistance Program."

Another gasp. You'd think these elves would learn not to be surprised by now, but apparently not.

"Yes, humans aren't perfect. But as we've just established, neither are elves. I lived with humans for twelve years, and I disliked some of them. But for the species as a whole, they weren't as awful as most elves make them out to be. I don't think we should reveal our existence to humans- that would be an adjustment they might not be able to handle- but I do think we should help them with technology and such. Maybe try to assist them in saving the planet instead of badmouthing them for destroying it. What do you think, council?"

Sophie waited as they held a telepathic conversation. After what seemed like an eternity, Councillor Oralie cleared her throat.

"Most of us," she said, throwing a pointed glance at Alina. "Think that's a wonderful idea, Sophie. Now, I realize that you'll be busy with schoolwork soon. But as the council and I decided- and you can say no if you'd like- you and your human sister should lead it. You are the elf who knows most about humans, and she is the only human who knows about elves. Now that the threat of the Neverseen is gone, there is no reason for you not to stay in touch."

Sophie thought it over. It was a huge responsibility, but she was ready. "I would love to."

**Okay, so the closing A/N for last chapter will be filled with me ranting about how sad I am that I'm done this book, so I'll give all of the announcements now:**

**-When this reaches either 500 reviews or 25K views, I'll be posting a bonus chapter of my story outline! It's rather incomprehensible, but in my opinion, hilarious.**

**-Reviews with an account will be PM'd for a response. Guest reviews will be addressed in the intro for the bonus chapter.**

**-I've got a Marellinh story coming next! Though I'm going to want a break from writing stories with a plot, so I won't start it for about a month. Maybe a little longer. Other stories will still get updates, though. To the extent that they ever do.**

**-If you have any questions after next chapter, put them in the reviews. I'll do my best to answer.**

**-Think that's all.**

**-Please review!**


	47. Chapter 45: Finale

**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH- am I doing this again?**

**(This is a double update, in case you weren't aware, so read chapter 44 first! Otherwise this won't make sense! Thanks!)**

**AHH! THIS! IS! THE! LAST! CHAPTER!**

**Crowd- Man, thank goodness.**

**Me- Hey, you'll miss insulting me!**

**Crowd- Hmm... true.**

**Anyway, since this is a double update, I have no reviews to respond to. So without further ado, let us proceed to (dramatic sob) THE LAST CHAPTER!**

**Enjoy!**

"So this is what the Forbidden Cities are like," said Marella, looking around. "I don't like the air here."

"Yeah, that's pollution," said Sophie, wrinkling her nose. She had gone to San Francisco to talk to Amy, but the rest of her friends had been enthusiastic at the chance to visit the Forbidden Cities. Though they weren't forbidden any more- elves could come and go as the pleased, and the Council was talking of changing the name to "the Human Cities."

"I don't like pollution," said Linh, who was holding Marella's hand.

"No one does," said Tam from behind them. He and Keefe had been planning some sort of prank, with Dex offering input and Fitz sighing. Biana skipped along next to Sophie, finally silent after a long interrogation about the best places to shop here.

Sophie stopped in front of her old house- her human family had moved back here after it was sure that their memories wouldn't come back. She made a sort of sad smile as a flood of memories from this house hit her. "That's a lot of emotions, Foster," Keefe whispered.

"I know."

"You want us to go away?"

"Um... yeah. If you don't mind," Sophie admitted. It was true that the presence of so many elves might overwhelm Amy, but she also wanted to be alone with her old house and her old family. Sophie was happier than ever in the Lost Cities, but a large part of her still missed her old life.

"No problem. GO AWAY, GUYS!" Keefe yelled, taking off running. The rest of the group followed until Sophie was left alone.

She took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

Amy opened it, to Sophie's relief. She wasn't sure what to say to her parents about a strange girl wanting to talk to their daughter. She wasn't sure she could handle seeing her parents, either.

"Sophie!" Amy exclaimed, attacking her with a hug. She'd gotten taller since the last time they saw each other- Sophie's little sister was nearly her own height now. "Is it safe for you to be here?"

"Yeah," Sophie said, nodding and laughing. Tears rose to her eyes- mostly happy. "We won."

"Awesome! Yay! So what brings you here? Besides just wanting to see your awesome sister, of course."

Sophie smiled. That had, in fact, been the main reason. "Well... elves used to have a thing called the human assistance program, where we introduced awesome things to humans. Like chocolate cake. Oh, and penicillin. That closed down after World War Two, but we've decided to restart it. I've been put in charge, but the council wants you to help me, since you're the only human who knows about elves."

Amy's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

Sophie nodded. "Yep."

"That's awesome! I'd love too! Just as long as it's not too much work. Algebra gets in the way of elf stuff, you know?"

Sophie laughed, remembering how much she'd hated algebra. "Yep. So, my friends are here- you want to hang out with them?"

"Sure, just let me ask Mom and Dad." Amy disappeared for a few minutes before returning and saying "Yep, we have an hour and a half! Where do you want to go?"

Sophie smiled. "Well..."

Ten minutes later, the group was gathered at the museum where Sophie had been on a field trip once, a million years ago. The field trip where she met a teal eyed boy and her world flipped upside down.

Even after knowing she was an elf, Sophie never could have predicted just how crazy her life would get.

But finally, the craziness was over- save for her insane, amazing friends.

It had been a long, _looooooong _journey. And they'd lost a lot along the way. Sandor. Kenric. Calla. One of the Mr. Forkles. Her human family.

But she'd gained a lot too. A group of friends who she knew would always be by her side. A new family, slightly broken, but that she loved more than anything. A sparkly flying horse. Even a boyfriend, which twelve year old Sophie thought would never happen.

The road that started on a school field trip and continued on until now was crazy. Some parts were painful. Some were incredible. Some were terrifying.

But for all the craziness of the journey, she liked where she ended up.

Sophie smiled. This wasn't her swan song.

_The End._

**Can I scream again?**

**AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**

**I've calculated. The final product is 60,734 words. Well into novel length territory. And it's incredible to think I've written so much.**

**I started this book on December 12, 2019. I ended on July 28, 2020. About seven and a half months. Which is almost a year. Which is a lot of time and effort dedicated to one work.**

**This book and I have very obviously been through a lot together. A pandemic, for starters. This book is part of what got me through the apocalypse. It's also been with me for one final exam. One chapter was written in Israel. I've written on two computers and one phone. This story was here for a Bat Mitzvah. Friend drama. Family problems. Mental health issues. It's been a roller coaster of a seven and a half months, and this book was here for me the whole time.**

**And I say this book, but I also mean you guys, my wonderful readers. Over 23,500 views. 30 favorites. 32 followers. Over 470 reviews. Constant support and encouragement. I would not have the motivation to write it it weren't for you amazing people. **

**I wish I could name all of you. But I can't. It is quarantine, but I've got online martial arts in ten minutes. But if you've reviewed this book, favorited, followed- then know that I mean you when I say I cannot thank you guys enough.**

**Like Sophie, I've had a crazy journey- hopefully this isn't my swan song either- and you guys have been there through mine too. **

**You're incredible. This experience has been incredible. And I'll miss writing this book- I'll have no idea what to do with myself, honestly. And I can't wait to see you guys for my next story.**

**Once again, thank you so much for reading...**

** Swan Song!**


	48. Bonus: Planning Document

**FIFTY THOUSAND VIEWS!?**

**Well, I'm updating, so yes. Seriously, though, thank you guys so much. Even though half of them are probably the same person, 50K is a heck of a lot. And my ramblings on a chromebook achieved that.**

**So, I promised a bonus chapter, and here it is:**

* * *

**Have you ever read a book that was truly a work of inspired genius? You're here, at the end of this book, so I'm assuming you have. And after reading that inspired genius, have you ever wondered "Did they plan each and every plot twist? What went on inside their head as they created magic with a keyboard?" (Okay, so I'm being a little narcissistic.) And now, you are about to find out.**

**It's a lot less intellectual and refined as you might expect. Keep in mind, most of these were probably written when I was sleep deprived.**

**This is your last chance to escape, reader. I'm warning you. **

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**Okay, so I guess you're determined.**

**Fine. Take a step into the insanity that is my brain. Annotated by present day (or several days ago) A. Fan.**

* * *

**BOOK NINE: SWAN SONG: PLANNING DOCUMENT**

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Sokeefe. How is it going to happen? Sophie is going through Keefe's memories and she sees the alicorn ride from exile from Keefe's POV, which is when he realized he liked her. She FINALLY realizes and basically freaks out while she tries to sort through her feelings. But how does she decide on him? **That stayed fairly consistent, though I did figure out the final ending eventually.**

Last book in series- don't have to come up with cliffhanger! Yay! Unless I do... GREAT GULON INCIDENT! ! ! ! **Be glad I didn't end with Keefe saying "Okay, fine, the incident is when I..."**

No epilogue, sorry.

Should end in museum where series started w/ entire group.

What the mallowmelt is stellarlune? "reach your fullest potential"? **(Figured out that.)**

Is she going to find out her bio dad?

Will they find Kenric's cache?

Betrayals?

**Chapter 21 was hard for me, so I tried a summary of it. **Chapter... what are we on, 21? Yeah, 21, I guess. So, Sophie tries to sneak out and Sandor catches her, because duh. He agrees that if they do not manage to get a hold of Axel within the next few days, then he will help them as long as they are actually ORGANIZED about it and, of course, SAFE! Of course they end up robbing the house, and that's gonna be fun to write. Hehe. Maybe chapter twenty one will also have that Fitz scene in there?

Who's left in the Neverseen: Fintan, Gisela, Trix, Vespera, Ruy, Gethen, some ogres/dwarves/goblins/ other stuff, some OC's, maybe? **Need to figure out who the eNeMiEs are!**

OC's

1) Axel- technopath. Male. After the tribunal, Dex finds all the important telepaths (because there are sooooo many of them) and interrogates them. On like, the fourth try, they find the real Axel! Who's name I will decide on later! Oh, and then they get the caches- the caches are important, can't forget about the caches. I said caches too many times, didn't I? Real name: Jayden Hammer. **Some details changed, general idea same.**

2) Silver- beguiler. Female. Former Exillium coach. Recruited Glimmer. Real name Shrivani.

3) Mist- Phaser. Male. Blur.

Glimmer: Former exillium student. Left hemisphere. Not any previously mentioned character. 17 yrs old. Although their times at Exillium overlapped, they were in different hemispheres and anyway talking was forbidden so she never got to know Tam or Linh. A former Exillium coach Coach Shrivani (the one for the left hemisphere so not tam or linh's coach) noticed her rebellious/vengeful nature and hatred towards the council so, Shrivani recruited Glimmer. (That's her real name btw.) Glimmer was fourteen at the time. Glimmer explains "She's a beguiler, so obviously she was very convincing." When she first started working with the Neverseen they presented it as a group trying to do good and hid all the bad kidnapping, arson, etc. stuff they did from her. Everything she heard about the neverseen, the black swan, the council, etc. was very biased and more often than not said by Silver (Shrivani.) But why does she reveal to show her face? If no one will recognize her anyway... figure that out later. Maybe because she thinks the council will recognize her and send her back to exillium. AND THERE WE GO, THAT'S MY CRAPPY GLIMMER THEORY! **Stayed consistent, as it was written right before the Glimmer chapter.**

Neverseen. Neverseen, Neverseen, Neverseen. What are they going to do next? Glimmer obviously knows some about their plans, since they actually trusted her. / / / An attack on the goblins. Glimmer doesn't know when. Sophie points out that the goblins are a) outnumbering them and b) way way stronger. Glimmer says she only knows this through eavesdropping, but she thinks she caught the words... "humans." What else? The Neverseen have continued with human testing in Nightfall to further work on overcoming elvin guilt. Once they're sure guilt effects have gone bye-bye, the neverseen are going to commit a mass human genocide. She's not sure, but Glimmer thinks Keefe's new ability may tie into this plan somehow.

**Okay, this part is fun: **Who dies? (not keefe not keefe not keefe) oml maybe sandor? How could I do that without hating myself? or maybe other forkle has to sacrifice himself? OMG THAT ACTUALLY MAKES SENSE BUT LIKE AAAAAAHH HOW COULD I DO SUCH A THING? Except I'm going to. Yep, Sandor. :) He dies protecting Sophie :(

What is Keefe's new ability? I was thinking omnikinetic or omnipath but like? Actually now I like the stealing-abilities idea. Stealer? Absorber? Maybe? And he'd also have like enhanced empathy and everything.

Okay, so basically... I'm just going to leave a lot of the ships undetermined. Sokeefe because duh, Marellinh b/c representation and cuteness in general, Dex declaring his undying love for cinnamon rolls, aaaaaaannnd maybe shipping Amy with a triplet b/c WHY THE HECK NOT!? **The last two didn't happen, sadly. That would have been fun, though.**

Is anyone going to find out that Oralie is Sophie's mom? Actually yes b/c I WANT A CUTE GRADY/EDALINE/SOPHIE SCENE GOSHDARNIT! **LOL, past me, CHILL THE EVERBLAZE OUT!**

Blur. Hmm. I'm going with Jensi's brother b/c WHY THE HECK NOT! How he joined the Black Swan (and Neverseen tbh): He manifested like really, REALLY late. For a long time people thought he would just be talentless forever and he was subject to a lot of bullying. There's a school rule that in Level Five if someone didn't manifest an ability by midterms they wouldn't be allowed to come back after the break. A week before midterms, Jaxx still didn't have a special ability. Sir Astin (AKA one of the Forkles, Universe mentor) felt bad for Jaxx so he offered to help trigger an ability. Jaxx was pretty desperate so he agreed. And poof! One day before midterms he manifested as a phaser! However, one of his friends that he hung out with (mostly because they were both talentless outcasts) didn't get an ability in time so they had to leave. Jaxx was like "tHe InJuStIcE!" and Mr. Forkle recruited him into the Black Swan. But guess who also thought he'd make a good addition to a rebel group? The Neverseen. At first, Jaxx thought the Black Swan and the Neverseen were either working together or part of the same group, so he was cool with being part of both. When he finally realized they were enemies, he decided he was on the Neverseen side, and the others convinced him to stay with the Black Swan as a double agent. *Bows* Thankuuuu. Ok and then his tribunal... what happens at the tribunal? Blah blah blah, interrogations, blah. Nothing important, blah, until Dex has the bright idea to ask about the caches. Blur reveals that... AXEL!... has the caches. But who is Axel? Blur doesn't know. **Stayed consisted.**

Team Valiant. Great. So, they're questioning Blur and Axel. Other members: Idk, the only important one is a recently manifested mesmer. They were hoping for Keefe to steal Sophie's enhancing and therefore make the mesmerizing more powerful. Humans have such "weak minds" that whole groups of them can be controlled at once. They were also hoping for Keefe to steal Grady's mesmer. The humans will be using controlled humans to attack the goblins. Blur and Axel know that the endgame is a human genocide, but they aren't sure exactly how- only that it's in a month. The goblin attack is in two weeks. Yay! Fintan's cache, finally opened only a few days before Doomsday, reveals that the Neverseen will be in Exile- the center of the earth. **Originally the final battle was in Exile, then I was torn between Exile and Point of Purity for a while before finally deciding on the latter.**

Okay so basically...

**This is where I try and fail to be more organized about my thoughts.**

Sophie gives cache to Dex

Goes to visit Keefe

Keefe says her name but SURPRISE!

He's just dreaming about her JFDSFIEWURIENDSKFJSIRJKSDFJ everyone hates me though.

~Sandor dies during a fight. I hate myself **Still true.**

~Keefe loses his memory when he wakes up.

~Fintan escapes the prison placeeeeeee **I'm being very smart.**

~How does Sophie find out Keefe likes her?

~Oralie opens the cache- next chapter is a sort of projected scene, of a tribunal. A formerly talentless person reveals that he did something with stellarlune to give himself the power absorber- meaning he can take people's powers away from them. He demonstrates by "absorbing" Oralie's empathy. Once Oralie regains her power, the council rules that instead of Exiling him, they're going to be doing something different. Taking away all of his skills (of elvin type), his elvin life span (making him about a 30~ish human man), washing all his memories of the elvin world... and making him live as a human. In Londen. As...

...

...

...

...

...

...i'll stop...

...

Ethan Benedict Wright.

~There is like a big BATTLE thingy at the end where EVERYONE FIIIIIIIIIIIGHHHHHHHTTTTTSSSS AND THE NEVERSEEN ARE EITHER ARRESTED OR DEAAAAADDDDD *Battle should last several chapters* **Yes, this is your worshiped author: EVERYONE FIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGHHHHHTTTTTTTTS in a big BATTLE thingy.**

~Lady Gisela ends up dying and we get flufffyyyyyyy SOKEEEEEEEEEEEEEFEEEEEE HEHEHEHEHEHE **Again... I'm less of a smart author now.**

~At Sandor's funeral/aurification the Neverseen attack there too.

~After the two Neverseen attacks (where sandor is killed and in Gildingham) Sophie decides that they need to end the fight with the Neverseen. So they leave a note, or prepare their own attack, and get ready for the big BATTLE thingy. **Ended up changing this with a more solid Neverseen plan.**

~Once the Neverseen are all arrested/dead, Sophie decides to focus on fixing the Elvin world like she was intended to do. **I'd been planning this since the beginning. Especially the "Really frickin' gay!" line.**

~Cute Oralie/Sophie scene where Oralie tells her she's proud to have played a part in creating such an amazing girl and like fluff and sophie forgives her and all. **Mostly happened.**

~DEX DYES IGGY AT THE END AND NMBGFDXDBVHNJHHBGFVDFSDSHYJUMHNBGFHJMMMMMMMMMMKJDHFEWIURUIEWHJSDJFLSDKJFLKDSJFDSLKM *Deep breath* i'm okay. **(Narrator voice) She**** was not okay.**

~At Black Swan meeting Glimmer provides more details about the Neverseen (plans, members, etc.) and about herself.

**Another attempt to give my planning doc some sort of coherence. Even I can't understand this. And I wrote it.**

Okay, I need to be more organized about this. So:

As of right now...

~Tribunal **(Apparently I wrote this right after the tribunal.)**

~Filler chapter/Dex hailing Sophie/Foxfire reopens maybe?

~Meet up to open cache

~Forgotten secret revealed

~Keefe wakes up

~Keefe's memory is gone

~Sophie is sad

~Sophie and Fitz use cognate power 

~Great Foster Oblivion ends

~Sophie and Keefe talk.

~Ability training for Keefe and his new "thieving" power

~Caches/catching Axel (sort of)

~Jensi asks to join the Black Swan even though he is talentless

~Sophie tells Grady/Edaline about councillor not-her-mom (flufffffffffffffffff)

~Somehow, Sophie chooses Keefe

~AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHASDFGHJKLFANGIRLATTACKKKKKKK **Me being smart.**

~Big EBWSATBJFWBMSLSNS **(I almost forgot about that acronym for a second) **scene maybe? Plus all the rest of the friends ( ro!) have to "react"

~Somehow, the Neverseen manages to attack a big group of them getting together, detalis tbd

~Sandor diessssssssssss omg I hate myself everyone hates me too *dies in hole* **Sounds about right.**

~Incomprehensible sobbing noises

~How do I move on from this tragedy?

~Let's make it worse **(I'm really obsessed with the tilde symbol: ~~~)**

~With Sandor's aurification (did I spell that right? IDK)

~Neverseen incite full Gildingham attack

~with the humans! O.o

~It's a struggle

~With many casualties

~But eventually

~The living members of the Neverseen retreat

~Some of Sophie's friends were badly hurt

~And only after do they realize

~GISELA DIED

~Fluffy Sokeefe hurt/comfort.

~Black Swan stuff

~Open cache

~Genocide is in Exlie, need to figure that out. Or possibly at Point Of Purity. Some sort of biological warfare- like corona but deadlier.

~Big BATTTLEEEEEEEE THINGYYYYYYYYYYY

~Finally, the Neverseen has like 2 living members and they go to Exile

~Council stuff, blah blah blah... (need scene with Oralie, scene with matchmaking and EQUALITY FOR ALL!)

~FLUFFY ending at museum!

Stats as of chapter thirty five (inclusive): 45,596 words. 11-12th grade reading level. Keefe is the most repeated word (not including common ones like "the") at 360. Dex is also high on the list at 209.

**DEX IS RELEVANT! XD. I think it's a high reading level because spellcheck doesn't recognize most of the words. **

Final word count: 60734.

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**All right, so, hope you enjoyed your glimpse into the non-grammatical madness that is my brain ™.**

**Crowd: You trademarked your brain?**

**Me™: Yes™.**

**Crowd: As for your question: Madness, yes, enjoyed, not so much.**

**Me: Fine. Shameless self promotion time, Glitter-Fangirls-23 has a oneshot book now, and this account has my Marellinh fanfiction posted (because I have no impulse control). So go read those! **

**Also... **

**You know... **

**Most of the Keepers books have short stories...**

**...**

**I'll post a poll on this account for which character. If you're a guest reader, or the character you want isn't listed on the poll, let me know who you want in the reviews. NOT: Fitz, Keefe, or Tam. Literally every other character can be requested.**

**Okay, that's all- I hope you enjoyed the insanity, and please review!**


	49. Biana Short Story

**Welcome, welcome back! Every book**** since Nightfall has a short story, and since I don't feel like PMing for "special editions," it's just being published in the main fanfiction. Yayyyyyy!**

**Evil bob: Haha, thanks! I think COVID beat you to the world destruction.**

**thereisaredeemer: I'm sorry... killing Sandor was a struggle, if that's any consolation. Sandor is an awesome bodyguard and I hope I didn't disrespect him. Well, beyond killing him off.**

**IShipWayTooManyShips: YAYYY! On the rare occasions that I store notes somewhere other than my brain, they are very much incoherent. You're quite welcome! XD. **

**SokeefeWillAlwaysBeBetter: :)**

**Guest: Thanks! And sorry. Very much Keephie, yes. Also Sophiana Kam. But also Keephie.**

**girlonfire: (pssst... bonus short story)... Ahh but thank you! And Peggy, and I hope you see you on Break The Rules!**

**Mallowmelt: I will take your vote into consideration! Thanks! / Angsty Koralie fic, hopefully canon compliant, you've reviewed on it so you probably know this already. Yeah, fangirl minds think alike! Though it is the classic full circle ending. Full circle and title reference are the only two ways I know how to end stories. Where is your fic- sorry if you've already said. I try not to read other book predictions while I'm writing my own since it's confusing, but now that I'm done... *shrugs.* rEALLY FRICKIN' GAY! I'd planned that line since the beginning. Go fangirls! **

**MarellaIsTheBest: Nooooo... really? Nothing wrong with spontaneity, or as we say in the writing world, pantsing! Thanks!**

**all i see is sky: More than a little, Sky. But okay. Ugh me too! Break The Rules is pretty fun though. -A. Fan.**

**Fitzphieistrash: Nah, I've never really been into that epilogue thing. Hopefully these don't disappoint, though!**

**MidnightBunnyy: Nothing wrong with pantsing stories! I'm doing that for Break The Rules!**

**TheBAckedUpT-Rex: AHHHHHH ALL CAPS BUT THANK YOU!**

**And, here is your bonus short story! The poll ended up with a tie between Marella and Biana, so I made myself the tiebreaker vote. Why? BECAUSE I'M THE FRICKIN' AUTHOR, I GET TO CHOOSE WHAT I WRITE.**

**Oh, and I chose Biana.**

**Why? Three reasons: (And I realize, three fundamental truths at the exact same time!)**

**1) Marella's third vote came in when I already had a vague plan for Biana's story.**

**2) I feel like I've gotten enough Marella writing with Break The Rules.**

**3) Biana is my queen, need I say more?**

**Enjoy!**

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_"You'll understand, someday, when you see the Vacker legacy for what it is."_

_The Vacker legacy._

Even in her sleep, Biana's mind searches for an answer to the Vacker legacy, and she subconsciously pulls at her hair in frustration when she finds nothing. Her thoughts, not getting anywhere anyway, are interrupted by an alarm beeping. She slowly slips back into wakefulness.

The morning starts the way it always does, at least in the first thirty seconds. After that, though, things instantly diverge from Biana's normal routine the second she realizes.

It's been a year since Alvar betrayed them.

It's stupid to be aware of that fact, let alone let it get to her. Elves don't care about anniversaries of anything. With their indefinite lifespans, keeping track of that stuff is _such _a headache. Most days, Biana doesn't even spare a glance at the calendar hanging up in her room. It's probably on the wrong month. But the fact that she's gone around the sun one whole time without Alvar seems pretty significant.

Although she's typically excited enough about the upcoming day to get up the first time the alarm goes off, needing the time to eat breakfast, find the right outfit, and do makeup, as soon as the reality of what today is settles in, Biana wants nothing more than to hide her head under the fluffy pillows and sink back into the blissful oblivion of sleep. So she does, until Fitz comes into her room and forcefully rips off the covers.

"Wake _up, _Biana!" he yells. Upon seeing his teal eyes glare at her, Biana's first thought is _Well, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning._

Her second is _Oh. Right._

Fitz isn't done yelling. "Mom won't let me leave until we're both ready, and I refuse to be late for school because my little sister was too lazy to wake up on time, so get _up_!"

"Tell Mom I'm sick." In truth, she does feel sick. Lethargic. It isn't a virus, though.

Fitz snorts. "Good luck convincing her of that. Now I'm not telling you again, get up!"

"If you're not telling me again, I can go back to sleep."

"Biana!" he shouts, grabbing her arm and dragging her upright. Biana stretches before shoving him out of her room and examining her closet. Part of her wants to wear something simple and dark, not bothering to look pretty, but another part wants to look extra beautiful, almost like showing Alvar he had no effect on her. A lie, but whatever. She eventually decides on beautiful and grabs a dress she's been in love with ever since she saw it at that store in Atlantis. It has a sparkly light pink top with spaghetti straps, and the flowing skirt is a gorgeous ombre with blues, greens, and that same sort of pink. Instantly after putting it on, she feels a little better. Not much, but a little.

Her hair is a disaster, and she doesn't have time to do much with it, so she just brushes it and lets her hair hang loose. Makeup, though, can't be skipped. Luckily, she's applied it enough times to rush through the process of making her lips dark red, her skin smooth, her cheeks pink. After adding sparkly light blue eyeshadow she's been told makes her teal eyes pop, she starts adding mascara. Fitz bursts in right as she's bringing the mascara to her eye, surprising her to the point where she nearly stabs herself.

"What the mallowmelt, Fitz!?"

"Do you even care about showing up to school on time? Or are you shallow enough to care about your looks more?"

"I'm not _shallow,_" she snaps, not looking away from her mirror as she finishes with the mascara and puts it away. "I like looking pretty because it helps me feel good about myself, not because I care how other people see me."

"Whatever. Come on, if you want to eat breakfast you have to go quickly!"

Biana rolls her eyes, slips on a pair of black heels, and ran down the gold spiral staircase. The intoxicating smell in the kitchen motivates her to run faster far more than Fitz's urging.

"Good morning!" Della says as Biana walked into the kitchen, nearly drooling at the scent of all the good food. "What do you want for breakfast? Muffin? Waffles? Pancake? Butterblast?"

_Is all of the above an answer? _"Why did you back all this?"

Della shrugs, turning her head away. "Oh, you know. Helps relieve stress."

"About?"

Della doesn't answer. Biana, already knowing, decides not to press further and starts eating a muffin as Fitz taps his foot impatiently.

"Where's Dad?" she asks between bites. He eats with them most mornings.

"In his office working. Stop asking stupid questions and eat!" says Fitz.

Of course he's working. He barely left his office for two weeks after Alvar left. Alden always drowns himself in his work. Biana sighs and finishes the muffin before leaping to Foxfire.

Although no one other than Fitz and Biana knows what was going on, most of their friends notice something was wrong- they'd have to be blind (or Sophie Foster) not to. Fitz deflects inquiries with snapping harsh comments, while Biana just gives a sad "I don't want to talk about it," afraid that opening up will shatter her careful composure.

Biana hadn't let herself skip school, but in retrospect, she wishes she had. Focusing on lessons and interacting with others while thoughts of Alvar thunder in her brain is about as fun as being trampled by a mastodon before walking through Everblaze.

_On LEGOs._

Finally, the day is over and Biana can go home. She's excited until she remembers that Everglen isn't that great at the moment. In a sudden burst of brilliance, she realizes that she can tap Linh's shoulder and ask to spend the afternoon with her, and does just that.

Looking genuinely apologetic, Linh says "I'm so sorry, Biana, but Marella and I have a date planned. Maybe another day?"

Biana won't need to distract herself like this another day, but nods and thanks Linh before asking her other friends. Tam is busy stalking Marellinh, as she's dubbed it. Dex has to work on opening a cache. Sophie declares herself "busy"- probably busy thinking about her insane love life (the love life that, frustratingly, doesn't include Biana). Keefe is comatose. Fitz is too furious at the world to want to do anything.

Biana leaps home and walks up the stairs. All of her friends are busy. She's just left behind. Invisible.

Of course she's invisible. She's a _Vanisher, _for mallowmelt's sake. This isn't anything new- she's been invisible to everyone even before she manifested as a Vanisher. For as long as she can remember, really.

_I never felt invisible with Alvar, _she thinks sadly, brushing her hand across the door to Alvar's room. It's been closed for the last year. With tears stinging her eyes and, despite her best efforts, spilling down her cheeks and ruining her mascara- _what was I thinking, using non-waterproof today?- _she opens the door now.

Alvar's room is kept ridiculously neat. Not even neat freaks keep it this neat. His bed is made- honestly, who actually does that?- his floor is vacuumed, his furniture is polished, all of his belongings are organized on shelves or stored away.

All but one, glaringly obvious against the neatness. A journal. Eagerly, Biana grabs it and flips open the cover.

_THE VACKER LEGACY _is written in huge letters, handwriting neat and perfect. Not even daring to breathe- _I'm finally going to find out why he betrayed us!- _she turns the page.

There's writing on it.

It's just in some sort of code she doesn't recognize.

And so are all of the other pages, right up until they're blank.

Biana slumps against Alvar's bookshelf, sobs shaking her body. She was so close to figuring out why she lost her brother, only to get that chance taken away.

She wants answers. No- she needs them. She needs to know why her brother, her favorite older brother, the one who listened when she complained about Mommy or Daddy or Fitzy, the one who watched her mini fashion shows even though they had to be mind numbingly boring, the one who once let her do makeup on his face despite the toxic masculinity he'd grown up absorbing, the one who, even after betraying them, came to Everglen in the middle of the night to ask that she join the Neverseen or at least go into hiding because he didn't want her to get hurt in the crossfire, the one who she still almost believes is genuinely good inside- why _her brother _joined an organization that did nothing but bad.

Biana cries for everything she's lost. She cries for the answers that were almost within her reach and got yanked away at the last second. She cries for herself, the invisible friend, the afterthought, the one who _Sophie Foster _barely notices when her brother is around because Sophie's a teenage girl and her brother is a cute _boy_ and Biana's just... invisible, and far, far too female for Miss Foster to crush on. She cries for her family that's been shattered and pretends they're okay when they might be beyond repair. She cries for her brother, too. Cries for the person he could have been, the good he could have done, the brother she might still have, if only the _Vacker legacy _hadn't turned him evil.

She cries, and cries, and cries.

And when all the tears have finally left her eyes, she Vanishes and walks back to her bedroom. Even if she was still visible, she doubts anyone would have noticed. But whatever. She grabs her makeup bag and stands in front of her mirror, wiping the tear tracks and snot and smeared mascara off her face. If anyone else saw her right now, they would laugh- the perfect Princess Prettypants, who's always perfectly polished, poised, and put together, standing broken in front of a mirror, looking positively _ugly._

If Biana wasn't so upset, she might find it laughable too.

But finally, her face is clean. She takes a deep, shaky breath before lifting her lipstick tube from the bag and repainting her lips, then reapplying the blush. As she adds the finishing touches with mascara, it doesn't feel like she's putting beauty products on her face.

It feels like she's wearing war paint.

Biana studies herself in the mirror, tightly gripping the sides of the desk it hangs above. Her reflection doesn't show the broken girl she is underneath, pretending to hold it together in front of the gossips, pretending she doesn't mind being the invisible friend, pretending her family didn't get crushed by the asteroid of Alvar's betrayal, pretending. She doesn't look like a girl who has to pretend to be okay. She looks like a girl who can take on the world with time left over for shoe shopping. She looks like a girl who knows she likes girls and boys and genuinely takes pride in her sexuality. She looks like a girl who radiates confidence, who's made of iron instead of glass.

She looks like the girl Biana wishes she really was.

_The girl she can become._

She takes a deep breath and whispers to herself, promising to do everything to make the words come true.

Biana Vacker creates her own Vacker legacy.

* * *

**Heck yeah, Biana! My queen!**

**So, if you have eyes, you probably noticed that Biana is _Bi-_ana. Typically, I lean towards Lesbiana, but since I wanted to end Swan Song with nothing but Keephie and Marellinh canon, Biana has all the options and her love life is still left open to interpretation. **

**This takes place _during_ the events of Swan Song, but honestly? Nothing about this is Swan Song specific. It's all canon compliant. So, that's probably an oops. Then again, the Keefe Flashback short story didn't have anything to do with the events of Flashback. So I'm good! Whoo!**

**Anyway, since this is the actual ***stunning*** conclusion to Swan Song, I actually won't be revisiting this story.**

***Crickets***

**Hey, this time I actually mean it!**

***Crickets***

**Fine, I might edit during the torturous wait for Unlocked.**

**Side note- I'm not sure if I said this, but I won't be writing a next-book thing after Unlocked. Yes, I did it for two years in a row, but I already used up all of my ideas for a finale to the series. I feel like a new version of the "last book in the series" would just be using the same ideas with slightly changed details. I mean, I don't know- Unlocked _might _be game changing enough for me to think of new ideas, but most likely not. At the most, I might be willing to collaborate for a next book.**

**Pause for some self promotion: Break The Rules! Marellinh! Fun! Actually tragic! But it has its moments! Also, KOTLC React to Ships! New cover! Upcoming Q&A! Submit questions! I need questions!**

**...I turned into Silveny back there, didn't I? XD.**

**And, since this is it...**

**I'm going to rethank everyone who's supported me on this journey of writing a novel length fanfiction. Not individually, but, dear readers, reviewers, followers, and favoriters, thank you all so much. And thank you to Shannon, who isn't reading this, for letting me borrow your characters, world, and plot and play around with them like this. It's been great fun. **

**Since I DeFiNiTeLy didn't say it enough times, here is **

**one **

**last**

**THANK YOU!**


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